I t that time of year when me and my buddies head out in the Georgia heat and humidity and celebrate what is known as BRAG. That stands for Bike Ride Across Georgia. This year it’s a loop ride that started in Fayettevillle, GA and heading to Griffin, then Thomaston, Columbus, LaGrange Newnan and then ending back in Fayetteville.
This reviewer is a only riding two days so I will be riding mentally with them as they leave Thomaston. So, tonight we have a Magic Hat Spring Pack. It has 12 brews, 3 of four different brews. I was raised in Griffin and my brother still leaves here so we’re over at Charlie’s house to eat some burgers, wings and hot dogs. What a perfect time to try some new brews.
We pedaled around 57 miles today in some pretty good cycling weather. I pedaled less because my tire warped around mile 36 and had to SAG it to the 3rd rest stop.
So, I had been waiting for a backyard tasting to try these (our last backyard tasting of the Winter Magic Hat was a mixed bag since we thought we got stuck with year old beer and tried the Odd Notion first which was an acid beer which we thought was bad. We retasted and found it better when we knew what we were tasting).
Now, I’ve been trying to get this reviewed since I bought it in April. it’s almost Summer and they’ve already started shipping their “Summer Scene” 12 pack so I figured “Get ‘er done.” (I’m still seeing the Spring pack in the stores. Not sure when teh Summer pack will show up).
So, I’ve enlisted the help of Team Occisus Via, my bike riding buddies to try the Spring Fever Variety pack. Now, these guys drink “Busch-Weiser.” so this should be interesting.
Here is the Quick List of the wines to be presented (click on a wine to see more):
Here are the detailed wine notes:
Vinyl Lager
What: Vern says “Vinyl is a good name…. Maybe tar would be more appropriate.” Vern says he would not drink this one again. Pete says it’s good. Nutty. Maybe some kind of nutty chocolate hiding in there. I visited the website and it said “Vinyl. This is a beer with a deep amber hue, sweet malt taste and aslight balancing hop touch. This beer is produced usign a larger strain of yeast and is fermented at the low end of ale fermentation temparatures, allowing the beer to maintain its easy-drinking lager-like characteristics. (You got to see their video on it. Really cool. A stop action video).
From: South Burlington, Vermont
Winery: Magic Hat
#9
What: A little too fruity for Dean. This is coming from a man that drinks Bass, Sierra Nevada. Sweetwater 420, so it doesn’t hit his palate. Benny did not like it at all went running back to the Lucky Kat. Nick and Eric and really liked it. I think they were disappointed there were only 3 bottles. We’ve reviewed this brew before. This beer is available year round and usually on tap around the Augusta area (mainly pizza establishments).
Lucky Kat
What: Real good. Like an IPA, which Bennie holds at the top of the scale. He has been Jonesing all week over Ranger IPA from New Belgium. Chad chunked it. “I hate IPA’s.” said Chat. Vern likes it. “Citrusy.” He would buy it again. Nat likes it because he likes a bitter IPA and he says it’s just right in the bitter department. Benny actually finished off the one that Chad passed on. This is another regular brew that isn’t seasonal.
Odd Notion Spring 10
What: Chad likes it. He’s trying to figure out. Like a summer ale. Little heavier than others. To me it smells like a white wine. Little heavy for a hot day. I’d buy it. Nat says it doesn’t have a lot of taste. Hmmmm. This has a citusy flavor to it. Kind of a sweet taste on the roof of the mouth. LIke of like a lime taste…. sorta. Really long lingering taste that moves toward something weird. A sharp sweet taste that I’m still tasting 5 minutes later. I need to find something to wash my palate. Now, what does the website say? Well the Odd Notion Series changes every season and so they are posting the Summer now. Maybe “The Voice” is reading this and will inform me.
Interesting, but I’m not sure I would buy it….. moot point considering they never make the same brew twice for the Odd Notion series.
