Magic Hat Winter Seasonal Howl

Technically, Winter just ended about two weeks ago and I have kept this in my archive for a few months and wanted to put this up before Summer begins. Whenever I think of Magic Hat, I'm always going to think of lighter beers since this is the first Winter seasonal I have seen. The first thing I noticed was the the label. I thought I saw this combination somewhere once in my life before and I probably had thoughts about that moment of time in my life. This book was once required reading in my high school class:

Back to the beer, Winter seasonal brews are usually darker and higher in alcohol content and this Magic Hat brew fits that description. It's definitely more bitter and heavier than its usual brews like #9. I found it pretty easy to drink and despite being a heavier brew the balance was good with the alcohol content. When these come around again next year, I will pick it up again.

Magic Hat Hex Ourtoberfest

I held on to this post for a bit and an entire season managed to pass before getting around to it. October and November are usually busy months for people in general, those months seem to revolve around preparing for holidays and doing strange things like looking for things on sale that we don't really need but really can't pass up the opportunity to buy at a reduced price. Fortunately, I have managed to buy very little this shopping season in terms of random items, though it was tempting. Since the holidays passed, a handful of larger snowstorms hit the East cost and buried most of everything in snow. It seems as though layers and layers of snow piles on the same half melted or unmelted piles every other week making for ugly monuments and to no surprise, the loss of parking spaces. When it snows around here, it makes for pretty messy commutes and extends the day because public transportation will have some delays. At the end of the day, I feel less motivated to update despite still collecting and trying new brews.

One of the things about Magic Hat is the variety and quality of brews that keeps me buying almost anything with its label on it. This year's Octoberfest brew is no different, it's got a bit of a bitter bite since it's a Fall beer and it's not too heavy. Fall is the time for darker brews, so everything that comes around this time tends to run along those lines of deep amber colors, heavier in alcohol, and a bit of a bitter kick to it. This one is very drinkable, it's lighter on a lot of the other brews in this category but it may be because that is the Magic Hat style.

Magic Hat HI.PA

I managed to get a single of these to try because I thought I wouldn't be able to tolerate a sixer of beers that may be too bitter and gritty. This one is a mild IPA and I'm feeling like I could have gotten six and would have been pretty satisfied to stash these in the fridge. Magic Hat calls this a Half IPA for the reason that it is milder than a full bodied IPA. There's definitely flavor in this, the taste of the hops are just strong enough to be flavorful but not overpowering. I prefer a milder brew like this one because I can actually drink the beer instead of taking sucker punched looking sips of a really strong IPA that leaves me incredibly thirsty. This one fits the bill pretty well as an easy beer to kick back with and not feel overwhelmed by the combination of flavors.

Magic Hat #9 Not Quite Pale Ale

For the longest time, I was put off by the odd label and name of this beer. The whole thing just didn't appeal to me. Finally, one weekend I decided to pick it up and discover what makes this beer popular. I didn't read the packaging properly and was a bit surprised with the apricot taste. I'm not a fan of apricot flavoring in beverages other than iced tea, tasting it in beer was a not terrible but not something I'd go and buy regularly. This is a pretty light beer both in taste and in color. I think this would be a good summer beer for light beer drinkers who may find great wisdom and advice printed in bottlecaps.