"magic hat" news and stories

"Do I have to drink the Magic Hat beer?" my friend Aaron asked, eying the bottle of Encore with equal measures of skepticism and fear. Aaron, a dedicated IPA and saison drinker, had long ago been turned off by Magic Hat, namely the apricot-esque #9 ale. I, too, couldn't stomach the fruity tipple. But Encore made me reconsider my misgivings about Magic Hat.

Earlier this year, Magic Hat launched its IPA on Tour series, a yearlong experiment featuring a different IPA every quarter. First up was the balanced, malty Blind Faith, followed by the generously bittered h.I.P.A. These are both palate-pleasing, above-average IPAs, but Encore deserves to take a bow.

The beer is a bit of a hybrid, a wheat beer's body wearing an IPA's clothes. What does that mean? Well, Encore pours a murky orange with a head that leaves a lovely lace. Thanks to Simcoe and Amarillo hops, the brew boasts a grapefruit perfume, but there's also a smidgen of sweetness. On the tongue, Encore drinks easy and zesty, thanks to a grassy, citric bitterness supported by a malty backbone. Some juicy fruitiness and twangy wheat seal the grade-A deal.

Joshua M. Bernstein has written about brews, bars and booze for New York Magazine, Time Out New York, ForbesTraveler.com and the New York Times.

When it comes to winter beers, we're often turned off by candy-sweet, overly spiced ales that taste like nutmeg-spiked cough syrup. A seasonal brew should not recall liquefied potpourri or sock us with serious alcohol. In the snowy heart of December, sometimes all we crave is a nice, dark drinkable beer.

The crew behind South Burlington, Vt.'s Magic Hat Brewing Company feels the same way. Since 1994, its brewing magicians have unveiled playful beers such as the unfiltered Circus Boy hefeweizen (made with lemongrass) and Wacko, a summertime refresher brewed with enough beet sugar to turn it Hello Kitty pink.

But for its newest winter seasonal, Magic Hat has turned to the dark side. Howl is a schwarzbier, aka a black lager. The German style melds a lager's drinkability with roasted flavors. It's all the fun of drinking a stout without feeling you've swallowed a lead weight.

It's cold. My laptop says it's 31°, and I believe it: The two most prominent sounds in my aural arena are the wispy winds rapping against my window and the hiss of the radiator readying itself for combat against the evenings projected low of 23. It's Saturday night and I don't dare go outside: I shudder at the thought that winter doesn't officially start for another month.

Luckily tonight, I find myself prepared with a couple selections from Magic Hat's Feast of Fools winter variety pack. In South Burlington, Vermont, they must realize winter doesn't always wait until December 21st, so these bottles have been tucked away in the fridge for a few weeks now awaiting such an opportunity. I'll speak about the merits of the beers themselves, but they also stand as excellent examples of the variety of ways a winter beer palate can be whet.

Thursday is the perfect day to debut my beer version of the Slashfood Ate (8). Though, granted, I personally spend pretty much all seven days thinking about beer, for those in the workaday world, Thursday is a far healthier time of week to turn your thoughts towards weekend libations.

This Thursday I'm especially antsy as tomorrow I'm off to the NY Brewfest '08. Around 80 brewers are listed as participating breweries on NYBrewfest.com. As usual, I'm most excited to try new products, but of the names I recognize, these are the eight booths you'll certainly see me stopping by:

1. Hook & Ladder Brewing Company: Their Golden Ale is one of the best kept secrets in the "most drinkable beers" department.
2. Ithaca Beer Company: At the Philly Craft Beer Festival, the Ithaca rep was bragging about how their Flower Power IPA took down the Dogfish Head 90 Minute in a head-to-head competition. They deserved the victory.
3. Allagash Brewing Company: Call me what you will, but I'm all about the wheat beers and Allagash White is one of the best.
4. Southhampton: See above, but replace a single white with Double White.
5. Oskar Blues Brewery: Who says great beers can't come in a can?!
6. La Chouffe: An international classic introduced to me long ago by my friend Grant. I'm gonna try to grab him some swag.
7. Wolaver's Organic, Peak Organic & Orlio Organic: As reported last month in the New York Daily News and mentioned here on Slashfood, supposedly organic booze is less likely to give you hangovers. Admittedly, I've overlooked organic brews in the past, but I'm definitely going to chat with the breweries this time around. Wolaver's Pale Ale made the Daily News' best of organic list.
8. Magic Hat Brewing Company: Magic Hat has become my new old standby. If I still haven't had my fill by the time things are wrapping up, look for me slurring my speech over by the Magic Hat booth.

[Photo Credit: nybrewfest.com]

Was it a merger over a decade in the making? A case of admiration run to its financial endgame? Maybe it's just a coincidence or purely about numbers. Regardless, it's a fitting tale of intrigue for "Fruit Beer Month" none-the-less as we dig in to discover how an oft forgotten cousin of the plum -- the apricot -- has shaped the modern beer market...

As reported by both companies, it's now official: Independent Brewers United, parent company of Vermont-based brewery Magic Hat, is acquiring west coaster Pyramid Breweries, thus merging not only two of America's largest craft brewers, but also the two breweries best known for beers with apricot flavored products.

Certainly, the merger creates a powerhouse combination of East and West Coast craft breweries, but scratch the surface of these new suds-buds and it begins to paint an interesting picture...