Day 120, April 30, 2011 / Magic Hat Number 9

Day 120, April 30, 2011

Number 9

Magic Hat Brewing Company / South Burlington, VT

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OK, what's going on here?  I must have checked at least 5 beer or grocery stores, trying to find a single bottle or even a 6 pack of something from Magic Hat other than Number 9.  You can find Number 9 everywhere - they're even releasing it in cans this summer.

But it seems the only way we’re getting most Magic Hat beers down here in NoVa is in the mixed 12 packs (which is where 4 out of the 5 beers in this Beer Run came from).

What do I have against Number 9?  Nothing, really.  I was just looking for something a little different, that's all.  I'm sure most of you have had a Number 9.  Its a decent light ale with just a hint of apricot, not particulary malty or hoppy.  Nice orange color, smooth taste.  Definitely better than Wacko, not near as good as Demo, which is this week’s BOTW!

Day 119, April 29 / Wacko

Day 119, April 29, 2011

Wacko

Magic Hat Brewing Company / South Burlington, VT

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Magic Hat’s Wacko returns for a second (and probably last) season as their Summer seasonal beer.  For a brewery that puts out some pretty good beers, Wacko is really nothing more than a novelty.  For me, I wish they’d bring back the Hocus Pocus summer seasonal – a light wheat ale with a hint of honey.

Wacko is a very light tasting beer, and oh yeah, IT’S PINK!  Wacko is flavored and colored with beet juice, which imparts it color into the beer and the head.  The taste is actually rather bland.  The only reason I bought it again was so that I could post a picture of a pink beer on the blog.

OK, here’s what you should do.  Buy some Wacko and start drinking it out of the bottle at a gathering of friends.  About halfway through, with a mouthful of beer, say, “Oh my god, I think I just chipped my tooth on the bottle!”  And then spit out the beer in your mouth into a glass and freak out your friends!  Or… maybe not.

Day 118, April 28 / Circus Boy

Day 118, April 28, 2011

Circus Boy Hefweizen

Magic Hat Brewing Company / South Burlington, VT

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Our backup (aka beer, beverage, crap we can't fit in our other over-stuffed) fridge is in the basement.  I recall a night a couple years ago, my daughter went down there to get a Coke before dinner.  I yelled down, "Hey Katie, can you grab me a Circus Boy?" She replied with the only correct answer to this question, "Uh, WHAT?"

How was she to know that Circus Boy is Magic Hat's hefeweizen?  How would she even know what a hefeweizen was?

Circus Boy is a very mild hefeweizen, without any discernible spice or fruit taste, like some others.  It's a decent summer beer, similar in taste to a Hoegaarden white ale.

Day 117, April 27 / Vinyl Spring Lager

Day 117, April 27, 2011

Vinyl Spring Lager

Magic Hat Brewing Company / South Burlington, VT

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The second beer in the Magic Hat Beer Run is a Spring / Summer seasonal.  This is billed as a Spring lager, but it's definitely hoppier than most lagers.  Wait, the Easter Bunny comes in the spring.  He hops.  The beer is hoppy.  It all makes sense now.  But why is it called Vinyl?  I dunno.

This is a clear amber colored beer, with a little sweet taste, and as I said before, a bit hoppy.  I don’t know about you, but I like my lagers a little lighter.  If I gave half-points, this would be a P.5, but I round up.  That’s just the kind of guy I am.

When I was halfway through drinking this beer Wednesday night, frequent commenter HHH (Henry) stopped by with a few beers to drink, and a few for the future.  We split the following beers, all of which we pretty darn good:

- 16 Mile Out Court Ale (Delaware)
- Long Trail Brewmaster Series Imperial Porter (Vermont)

- Port City Porter (new, from Alexandria, VA)

And left me with the following beers, that I'm sure you'll be hearing about in the future:

- Port City Optimal Wit
- Port City Essential Pale Ale
- Southern Tier IPA

Thanks, Dude!

Day 116, April 26 / Magic Hat Demo Black IPA

Day 116, April 26, 2011

Demo Black IPA

Magic Hat Brewing Company / South Burlington, VT

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Here is the mixture of life’s elixir.

That’s what it says on the doors into Magic Hat’s Artifactory – their tasting room, brewery tour and gift shop – in South Burlington.  Been there.  Twice.

Magic Hat is definitely one of the funkiest brewers and breweries around.  The place is filled with funky art and stuff, staffed with funky people, wearing funky clothes and funky hair, some of whom smelled just a little funky.  Besides their flagship #9 Ale, which has a slight flavor of Apricot, Magic Hat brews a variety of different beers, both year-round and seasonal.  But even some of their year-round beers change out now and then.

I’ll compare Magic Hat beers to one of my favorite recording artists, Elvis Costello.  I’ve been a fan for a long time, and I usually like / love most of the “product” they put out, and I will buy it on the spot.  But once in a while, they let me down.  Not today.

So we’re kicking off a Magic Hat Beer Run for the next few days.  Thanks to Regina and Chris for hooking me up with a few Magic Hat brews to start the series.

The Demo IPA is part of Magic Hat’s “IPA on Tour” series – a different IPA for each season. And this season, it’s fashionable for IPA’s to be black.  Black IPA’s are generally produced from roasted malts, which gives the beers a darker color and a toasted or smoky flavor.

This beer grew on me as I drank it.  At first, I was unimpressed with the lack of a noticeable head on the beer, and the initial sip was a little bracing.  But as I nursed this beer, I came to appreciate and enjoy the more complex flavors in the beer, especially after last week’s much lighter Caribbean beers.

Day 115, April 25 / Stegmaier Amber Lager

Day 115, April 25, 2011

Stegmaier Amber Lager

The Lion Brewery / Wilkes-Barre, PA

Low expectations… met.

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When I was a kid, I had a beer can collection.  Of course, I was too young to drink the beer, but I had a system.  I would scout out new and different cans at the store and convince my dad to buy them. It wasn’t too hard to convince Dad.  So I know I was responsible for my dad drinking at least one Stegmaier beer.  I know it’s too late now, but I just wanted to say, “I’m sorry, Dad.”

What am I talking about?  Dad drank Utica Club, Schaeffer, Schmidt’s, Carling Black Label and Genesee – and liked them!

My aunt and uncle actually lived down the road from the Lion Brewery (makers of Stegmaier), in Trucksville, PA on the back mountain.  We’d pass the mysterious brewery, with its big painted lion head, on the way to their house.

These days, the Lion Brewery is primarily a contract brewery shop, brewing a number of other labels’ “craft” beers and Pabst Blue Ribbon.  They also produce their own beers under the Stegmaier and Lions Head labels.

The Amber Lager poured a clear amber color with very little head.  The taste was a little sweet with burp-producing carbonation.  Even though this is supposed to be an all-malt beer, it tasted like it could have had adjuncts (corn or rice) in the mix.

In Pennsylvania, you have to buy beer by the case (you can get a 6-pack to go at a bar).  I definitely wouldn’t recommend a case of this, but you may see it in a 4 six pack mixed sampler – maybe the other beers are a little better.