After Hours » Blog Archive » A summer brew that marches to its own beets

A summer brew that marches to its own beets

Summer beer is nothing new. At this point, no respectable craft brewer would roll into the warm months without a decent entry.

Enter Magic Hat’s Wacko. On the outside, it’s just another bottle covered with splashy graphics promising a crisp, smooth summer beverage.

The Wacko part comes into play when you pour it out. It’s got a pinkish-red hue, thanks to the inclusion of beet sugar in the brewing process. Though Magic Hat doesn’t mention any fruits added to the process, it has a slight fruity note and slighter fruity nose. A unhappy online reviewer compared it to a wine cooler, which is bit of an overstatement, but I’d probably stick with bottles if I find it at a bar - I don’t need the stigma of a pink drink.

I’ll agree with the crisp and smooth description. And because it’s not very hoppy and has an average alcohol content (4.5 percent), it’s something I could imagine drinking a few of on a warm summer night - and I’m not a big fan of fruity beers. It’s a little less fruity than Magic Hat’s #9, and thanks to that, a less fruity aftertaste.

If this is Magic Hat’s move to steal back some summer beer drinkers from Sam Adams Summer Ale, it’s a nice step. Though I’m not entirely sure why they never sought out this guy for the ad campaign.

Wacko’s hard to find on tap, but you can easily find it in stores in Magic Hat’s Summer Scene Variety 12-pack, which also includes #9, Lucky Cat and a new summer version of the Odd Notion beer, a nice Belgian-style ale that will get its own review in this space in the coming week.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 9th, 2009 at 5:12 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.