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.

Long Trail Blackbeary Wheat

I have never been to Vermont (not a fan of winter sports) or lived there, so there was a slim chance I would have known or heard of this small brewery. I do have a love for discovering brews along the East cost and this beer really surprised me in quality. This beer definitely reminded me a bit of the weight of Blue Point's type of brews and I knew instantly, the light flavoring of blackberry and lager was a winning combination. I am never a fan of heavily flavored things which kind of explains why I dislike things that are too sour, painfully spicy, or so sweet the my gums sting, I look for brews that manage to pull off being flavored but not categorized as a fruit beer. Long Trail has several seasonals and year round beers, and they seem to do a bit of everything from india pale ales, pale ales, and even porters. I do want to try most of them and would look for a sampler soon.

As I write this, the year is really closing in and winding down to the last days of 2010. Every year is important and profound as long as we make commitments to creating great memories for ourselves, loved ones, and communities. It's never easy to look forward without looking back on what could have been done better, more efficiently or handled more maturely, but overall, one the greatest things I have learned over the years is to always try new things, especially food - and beer happens to be a food item!

Sam Adams Light

I cannot believe it is December already. Where did 2010 go? The hardest months are usually the ones where everything is rushed but at the same time there is just is not enough time to fit everything in one day. I could go on in length about the time aspect, being a commuter and dealing with transit delays and working on professional and personal projects that soak up every free block of time. I have to say, I have been pretty good this year with random beer purchases, stuck to my guns and did not buy anything that I knew I would just not like for the sake of trying it. I am, however, still a sucker for seasonal beers that are uninteresting but worth trying. The seasons have officially changed, the news reports snow in some areas, and the temperature has dropped considerably to warrant full winter clothing - all this leads to another seasonal beer run.

I am not a huge fan of Sam Adams brews, nothing against them but they are not local to me like how Brooklyn Lager is the standard local brewery in my eyes. When I first saw this, I knew I had to get some to try them because it is pretty uncommon to find an amber colored beer that isn't heavy or a light beer that doesn't have a ton of carbonation. Sam Adams Light accomplishes being a lighter ale with just enough carbonation for a refreshing beer. This could easily be a good replacement for a burger and fries beer instead of a regular lager.

Hue Beer

I'm normally not to crazy about Asian beers because they're almost the same to me, they're light lagers with a fair amount of carbonation. Lagers are really refreshing and goes well with the types of food served in Asian kitchens. The fun part of trying these different beers is collecting the images of the bottles. Hue Beer is nothing more than a regular lager from Vietnam that I would classify as a middle of the road type of lager, it's not quite a light beer.

Roscoe's Hop House Pale Ale

I checked the site for this brewery and found that they're very limited and only select stores carry these beers. I have never seen this beer before and like all beers I have never seen, I'm always curious where it comes from, domestic or imported, or limited editions. I have a soft spot for anything limited from a good brewery but most of all, I'm a fan of pale ales. Roscoe's pale ale is very refreshing as I drank them in the summer and was pretty bummed that I would need to take special trips to specialty stores to find this again. The balance of carbonation and weight was great and it did not leave a gritty aftertaste. They also make an amber ale I have never seen but would like to try.

Sierra Nevada Summerfest 2010 Lager

I couldn't let the summer go by without picking some of these up. I'm biased. I like the Sierra Nevada brand and I personally feel that anything coming out of that brewery will be pretty good. Summer beers from Sierra Nevada are guaranteed to be good, refreshing and light. There's not much to not like about this lager, there isn't too much carbonation, the taste is light but still flavorful unlike generic light beers that taste mostly like water. Since these are seasonal it is really a race to get some and enjoy them before they're no longer fresh. My favorite seasons for beer are mainly Spring and Summer since the heavier brews end up in Fall and Winter. I do enjoy darker beers but there's really nothing like having a refreshing Summer brew.

Speakeasy Untouchable Pale Ale

One of the things that obviously drew me to this beer was the label design. I've always liked the style of that era, from clothing, to cars, and the music. I even recall the time when the Dick Tracy movie came out in 1990 and there were all these toys and promo items related to it. I'm thinking back to the details when trading cards were huge in the 90's, with special cards tucked into packs randomly and when toys were ripe with jagged edges and not rounded like the ones today. Those were some seriously good times for toys where action figures ruled and comic books were found in newstands all over. I really do miss 90's, long before the internet, the vast amount of misinformation and the mobs of anonymous internet banter.

The one thing the beer bottle reminded me of was this No Fear logo from the 90's:



This American pale ale is heavy without a bitter bite, and is not overly carbonated. There is less of a bite than Sierra Nevada Pale Ale but there is no less flavor to it. It is a bit on the sweeter side without leaving too much of an aftertaste. This is the type of beer to drink one or two of at once and that is it, it's carbonated and on the heavy side and doesn't leave room for much else.