Beers in Review: 22 Days

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No more excuses. Let's get to it.

Leading off is arguably the most widely available craft beer in America. Magic Hat #9 is so iconic to Vermont's Magic Hat Brewing Company that it even gets its own heading on the Magic Hat website, separate from the rest of their "elixirs". #9 is seemingly available EVERYWHERE, yet I've never reviewed the flagship. Let's change that now.

Despite Magic Hat's seeming eccentricities, #9 seems to be designed to be accessible to everyone. Perhaps that's what makes the rest of the portfolio possible. This "not quite pale ale" pours a perfectly clear amber color and registers at 5.1% ABV and 20 IBU. A fairly mild beer in most aspects, the flavor notes include apricot and some peach along with hints of graininess and spiciness. Really, it quite simply tastes like beer, which, if you've read or watched previous reviews, you will know that is not something I say as a criticism. The beer has a light body with a fairly clean and dry finish. This is a fairly basic beer, overall, but it is quite drinkable. Obviously, many other beers are going to blow #9 away, but it is a solid beer that can be found most everywhere. That's not a bad thing.

From the eccentric megabrewers at Magic Hat to some similarly eccentric crafters based out of Louisville, Kentucky. Against the Grain Brewery (and Smokehouse) immediately break the mold by offering uniquely-named and uniquely-styled beers, with all of their non-kegged beer being served in 16-ounce cans with art that looks like it was done by the Bob's Burgers people. Clearly Everybody Wants Some is a pale lager that pours a hazy golden wheat color and comes in at 6% ABV.  I found the beer to balance pretty well, with mild hop notes blending with a mild maltiness. Sporting a light-to-medium body, the flavor profile also includes some mild grain and wheat notes, along with a bit of lemon. Now, here's the thing. I'm mentioning a whole of "light" and "mild" qualities to this beer, but AtG did a terrific job of making the whole add up to far more than the sum of the parts. This beer is, dare I say, surprisingly very good. You will see the words "pale lager" on this beer's label, but it plays much closer to a top-flight American-style wheat beer. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

Beers in Review: Doing one live

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I have just one last saved up from the weekend to write about, but since I want to give you all your money's worth, I'll add one live tasting to wrap up the post. The things I do for you people.

From the weekend, Magic Hat Brewing Company has released their summer seasonal, Stealing Time. A wheat ale with ginger, I'm glad to say the balance of the ginger is one of several positive characteristics of this beer. As expected for a summer, it has a light gold color and a pretty light body. Overall, I found the ale to be quite tasty. It was pretty sweet, but also contained some grainy notes. The ginger flavor and bite was noticeable but not overpowering, as is so easy to do. The result was a nice balance between the less intense wheat ale characteristics and the ginger notes. A really nice execution and a tasty beer.

For the live tasting, and staying in a summery mood, I have the Hauch von Himmel Hefeweizen from from Church Street Brewing Company in Illinois. I considered doing this for tomorrow's video review, but I didn't want to have to deal with saying/butchering "Hauch von Himmel" a lot, so this live tasting works out better. The hefe pours a pretty gold-to-ripe-peach color, and is pretty hazy. Upon taking a sip, the first impressions are of fruit, but it's not super-sweet, like it could be with such flavors. There is also an interesting sour note, almost pushing into a sour ale, but not quite. There is some very mild clove and other spices, and maybe just a hint of graininess. All of this is going on as it stays in my mouth, but I find it all resolves into a tart white wine note at the very end. There is a whole lot going on with this beer, and I'm glad I have a couple more to enjoy as the weather warms up.