Are you ready for summer? If I had to pick a favorite part of every summer it would be chilling outside, the grill going, beer in hand, surrounded by family or friends. I crave those moments and make them a reality as often as possible.

How to pull off an easy summer backyard party:

Put together the menu. Simple is best because no one wants to spend hours spacing away in the kitchen instead of enjoying the weather. I stick to the basics - meat for the grill, a summer salad, chips, fruit salad, and some kind of dessert, like ice cream bars or cookies. Remember the condiments you might need for the meats and salads you are serving. If you can delegate the menu items so that you only need to worry about the main course on the grill, even better.

Set the scene. Tables and chairs. Don’t forget a table for food and drinks. Backyard games like Bags or Can Jam. If you are getting really fancy you could be setting up tiki torches, use table clothes, have twinkle lights strewn about. A little music helps add to the ambiance - country if you’re my family. Don’t forget the basics - plates, napkins, cups and utensils.

Chill the drinks. For most of my parties we do a cooler for beers and a cooler of non-alcohol options. This summer I’ll be filling the cooler with Great Lakes Brewing Co.’s brews, especially the Holy Moses, a white ale, and the Dortmunder Gold Lager. Both are light and refreshing, perfect for the warm summer days. Plus, they both pair well with all sorts of BBQ staples.

You can figure out what GLBC beer is all yours with this handy test.

Fire up the grill, kickback and enjoy! Once you’ve got it all set, kickback and enjoy the day, the people and the beer.

Sidenote: GLBC is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a pint-sized pub tour. Think of The Pint Size Pub as a traveling brewpub experience. It will be making stops in select markets throughout the Great Lakes region over the summer. Stops include Chicago, Madison, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Cinncinnati, etc… Plus, as part of the tour, GLBC is giving away a trip to Cleveland to help the brewery celebrate its 30th anniversary in September. Enter here.

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own, because beer is awesome.