Magic Hat Hex – Ourtoberfest

I drink more oktoberfest style beer at our annual Oktoberfest weekend than all year long. I was amazed by how the taste of this style brought back all of those memories. It is like just like when you smell something out of the ordinary from your childhood, like the smell of your grandparents bungalow at the beach, that you remember and can picture so many details that were otherwise stored in the back of your head.

This beer from Magic Hat was not bad at all. I know that is not high praise, but this just isn’t my favorite style. The color is just right, medium amber. It is lighter than most oktoberfest in the sweetness category and the bitterness is minimal which I would then call it a classic German octoberfest (as opposed to your American variety), but they use an Alt Ale yeast…? Maybe that is why they call it “Ourtoberfest”. They also used some smoked malt in it, but apparently very little as I didn’t detect it all. Maybe I should have another.

Best part of it is that it didn’t have any of that perfume like notes that some Magic Hat beers have that I don’t like. Magic Hat continues to put out new products and are willing to try new things (although not as extreme as say Dogfish Head). Anyway, I think these guys get better every year.

Magic Hat Demo

I have never been a big fan of Magic Hat because every one of their beers have always tended to have a perfume aroma that bothers me to no end. However, this dark IPA was actually better than most. I think the dark roasted malts plus extra hops helped cover up that flowery note but it was still present. Consider this a kicked up brown ale with a dry finish.

Not something I’d go out of my way for, but if you are already a Magic Hat fan (which apparently many people are) then it is worth a try. Demo is 6.0% ABV and is brewed in Burlington VT.

Magic Hat Howl

Beer-a-Day #341 Magic Hat Howl

Born of dark and cold and snow in the marrow of the northeast’s longest night, HOWL comes in on wailing winds with winter-weary eyes burning holes in sunless shadows. In its darkened depths out inner voids are warmed.

Dark and opaque with a fairly thick head. Lots of coffee in the aroma. Lots of roasted flavor. That’s pretty good. (As an aside, my wife likes the label.)

Magic Hat Howl

Magic Hat #9

Beer-a-Day #340 magic-hat-9

A beer cloaked in secrecy. An ale whose mysterious and unusual palate will swirl across your tongue and ask more questions than it answers. A sort of dry, crisp, refreshing, not-quite pale ale. #9 is really impossible to describe because there’s never been anything else quite like it.

Light, golden color, not unlike apple juice. Some floral and spice aromas. Dry and crisp as they suggest, with perhaps a little pineapple. Interesting.

Magic Hat #9

Magic Hat Lucky Kat

Beer-a-Day #257Magic Hat Lucky Kat

Lucky Kat purrs as he pours with a grin on his mangy face and a grin in his searching eye. He sits on the fence he calls home, dividing up from down. Is he an imperial beast or a pale soul from the east? Only he knows and we know only this: if you reach out to pet him he’ll bite back with a big, hoppy kiss.

Nice deep amber color, thick off-white head. Nice floral and citrusy hops. That’s better than I expected.

Magic Hat Brewing


Magic Hat Roxy Rolles

magic-hat-roxy-rollesBeer-a-Day #250

The cap says: “Without hops the world stops”

We’re back to sweltering summer weather, but that little chill we had last week is a reminder that autumn is just around the corner. My favorite season.

It’s the color of dried apricot. Head is off-white with some staying power. Nice big grassy hop aroma. Medium body and plenty malty, but more “hop” than one would expect if one was thinking this was a typical märzen. I rather like it.

Magic Hat Brewing


Session #31: Magic Hat Wacko

The Session - Beer Blogging FridayThe Session is a monthly one-day event held by beer bloggers around the world, where they each post their thoughts on a unified theme.

This edition of The Session is sponsored Peter Estaniel at BetterBeerBlog.

Announcing The Session #31: Summer Beers

Which brings me to this months Session topic: Summer Beers. With the summer coming to a close, what was your favorite beer of the summer? It doesn’t even have to be from this summer. Is it a lager or maybe a light bodied wheat ale? Maybe you’re drinking anti-seasonally and are having a barleywine or Russian Imperial Stout. Why is this beer your favorite? Is there a particular memory associated with this beer? How about a city? Maybe there was a particular dish that made this beer memorable? Spare no detail.

Oh, so many memories. Hanging out on Andy’s screened-in porch. Getting busted. (Okay, so maybe they’re not all good memories.) In later years, lying in my hammock after a hard day’s worth of yard work. Celebrating Max’s 21st birthday down the shore and discovering Rich Meyer. Dennis’s famous summer cookouts. That crazy barbecue where I met the woman who would become my roommate and, later, my wife.

So many memories. And in all of them there was beer-a-plenty. The thing is, there is nothing memorable about the beer itself. No, the memories come from the people and places. Mostly the people. The beer was just that little extra spice.

That’s not to say I haven’t had some good beers, of course. If nothing else, my little Beer-a-Day project has introduced me to a lot of beer I might not have otherwise tried. I particularly like this time of year because the Octoberfest beers start hitting the shelves, but they’re not “summer” beers. Honestly, if there’s any beer that I particularly like I’ll drink it all year long (assuming I can get it).

Magic Hat Wacko (image © Christopher Vigliotti)

Magic Hat Wacko (image © Christopher Vigliotti)

A “summer beer” sounds like a seasonal to me. The summer is almost over, so I picked up a few before they disappeared.

The first of these is Wacko by Magic Hat. My brother Don (½ of the Hop Talk Advisory Council) has a special affection for Magic Hat’s offerings. He is consistently disappointed by the lack of witty text on the inside of other brewers’ bottle caps. I like their irreverence and adherence to their theme. “Wacko” is also something of a term of endearment in my family.

Besides, I had to have something for Beer-a-Day #247.

Here’s what Magic Hat has to say about it:

Crisp like the morning, cool like the evening and quenching all day long. It’s the beer that dances to the beat of summer. Pop the top and set your summer loose. Wacko is the liquid song of summer.

A delicious, beet-red summer beer with a big malty aroma, a subdued hop bite and a clean, slightly sweet finish.

Sounds interesting.

It’s…pink. It looks like some sort of cranberry soda. Head doesn’t stick around. Aroma is light. Slightly sweet (as they suggest) with an unusual “tang” in the finish. I can see how this would be refreshing on a hot summer day, but I think I’ll stick to my IPAs.

Oh, the inside of the cap says: “it’s Good to be Queen”

Magic Hat hI.P.A.

Magic Hat hI.P.A.Beer-a-Day #227

hI.P.A. is a highly hopped India Pale Ale and the Spring SeasonAle. A medium-bodied beer with a fresh and fruitful nose of vernal vitality. It begins and ends with a big hop bite that is itself forever balanced on the brink by a steady rhythm of malt. Dry-hopped for extra quenching in the face of heat and beat, it’s an ideal accompaniment to chilling out, turning inward or sailing onward through the music of the night toward the dawn of the mind. It’s the liquid way to say be here now lest you never come this way again.

Medium amber with some orange highlights. A little perfume-y. Nicely bitter, but I’m getting a bit of soap in the flavor. I think it might be a little old; there is some unusual sediment in the bottom of the bottle.

Magic Hat

Magic Hat to acquire Pyramid

Not a scoop, by any means, but word is out that Magic Hat Brewing is buying Pyramid Breweries.

From the press release:

The closing of the proposed transaction, subject to the conditions referred to above, is anticipated to occur not later than August 31, 2008.

The board of directors of Pyramid has approved the transactions contemplated by the Letter of Intent.

“The combination of these two well established, high profile craft breweries will be very complementary given our respective brand portfolios and the geographies in which we predominantly operate. Additionally, there will be a number of important benefits for Pyramid to be part of a private company versus continuing to operate as a stand alone public entity. This consolidation makes both good strategic and financial sense and is well timed, particularly as the beer industry’s competitive dynamics continue to intensify,” said Pyramid CEO Scott Barnum. “The Company will continue to have offices in Seattle, its historical home, and will seek opportunities to capitalize on the enhanced assets and capabilities of the new combined entity,” he added.

Martin Kelly, CEO of Magic Hat said, “We have a great deal of respect for Pyramid’s brand heritage, award-winning beers and its dedicated employees, and look forward to consummating this transaction, which provides both strategic and financial benefits both to Pyramid’s and Magic Hat’s stakeholders.”

Magic Hat Brewing CompanyI have had—and enjoyed—beers from both of these brewers. Pyramid is apparently having some financial difficulties and have had to let some staff go. I guess I just don’t know what to think of it. Last year was Red Hook and Widmer, and now this.

I wonder if this is the leading edge of a wave of consolidation in the craft brewing segment. We have seen such things in other business segments; remember when there were eight “big” accounting firms? The high costs of raw materials, packaging, and transportation certainly aren’t helping matters.Pyramid Breweries

Best discuss it at the pub.

(via multiple sources)