Spring Beer!

The arrival of spring seasonal beers is one of the first signs that winter is finally coming to a close. The unseasonably warm weather that we've had here the past couple of days compelled me to seek out this first sign of spring's arrival. Vaguely certain that I had seen the Sam Adams spring sampler pack for sale somewhere, I headed out to my local beer distributor to pick it up. Unfortunately, I found only the winter sampler. When I asked about the spring sampler, the store clerk offered the helpful reminder that it was in fact still winter. Undeterred, I went to two more distributors only to find the same thing. Having been convinced that the arrival of the Sam spring sampler was a dream, I focused my efforts on finding any spring sampler. Fortunately, Magic Hat's spring sampler had recently arrived and I decided to go with a case of that. The sampler contains four beers: their signature #9 Not so Pale Ale, Circus Boy (their Hefeweizen), an IPA whose name I can't recall, and their spring sampler--Vinyl Lager. If you haven't noticed, Magic Hat likes to go with really off-beat names for their beers (what else would you expect from a brewery in Burlington, VT). **Side note: 'Fat kids' that find themselves in Burlington, VT have the option of following up a tour of the Magic Hat brewery with a visit to the Ben & Jerry's factory in Waterbury, as it is only about 30 minutes away.** Back to the beer: my personal favorite was the Vinyl Lager. It's crisp and refreshing--as a spring seasonal should be--but still packs a lot of flavor. The other beers are good in their own right. The Circus Boy is probably my least favorite of the bunch. It's not that it's bad, I just feel that there are better Hefeweizens out there. I'll probably still pick up the Sam Adams sampler when it comes out, but I have no problem recommending the Magic Hat sampler. The cold weather is supposed to return here in a couple of days. For now though, my seasonal beer, along with the golf clubs in the back of my closet, serves as my reminder that Spring is indeed coming.