Sampling Magic Hat's new Night of the Living Dead seasonal variety pack
Everyone, please give a warm welcome to guest blogger Michael Cook. You may remember him from such blogs as Beer & Old Bay on Metromix, and his stints as an employee of Metropolitan in South Baltimore.
Well, Michael has offered to write about beer and zombies for us, and who am I to deny him? Take it away, M.C.:
If there's one thing that makes me thirstier than the advent of autumn, it's the thought of dealing with the newly resurrected dead.
Fall is beer drinking time. Unfortunately, Halloween reminds us of the constant, often ignored, threat of slow-walking, brain-hungry zombies. You would cry too if it happened to you.
Finally, FINALLY, there is a beer company willing to face this morbid possibility with a new seasonal variety pack of suds.
Magic Hat's new offering is aptly called Night of the Living Dead, and contains their famous #9, their Circus Boy wheat beer, Roxy Rolles hoppy amber, and Odd Notion, a limited edition Belgian chocolate stout.
Since the wise folk at Magic Hat saw fit to send me a sample, here are my thoughts on the new beers ...
Fall beers should have complex flavors to them. The simplicity of summer is gone. We need real beers to deal with holidays like Thanksgiving, when we are supposed to celebrate the foreign invasion of America, ignore the native genocide, and eat six pounds of turkey per person all while dealing with an inappropriately high proximity to our extended family. Luckily, Roxy Rolles is a real beer-drinker's beer.
Rolles appears dark mahogany and pours with a thick tan head. Like the best ambers, it balances hops against caramel flavors the same way a great zombie flick balances adventure and fear. For those who like to be all high class with their finely brewed beverages, Rolles makes a great pairing beer. Set up Rolles on a date with some sausages or roast veggies or pumpkin pie. For those who just drink their beer, Rolles is just right for sitting in a sweatshirt after raking leaves.
I should note at this point that Magic Hat has been wise enough to sell their beer in bottles, rather than cans. Zombie experts agree the bottle is a far better weapon than a can in the event of undead attack. (The version of the variety pack that comes with the Dessert Eagle pistol is unfortunately only available in Texas). Now, back to the beer:
One should lay in a small stock of Odd Notion now in order to have it around in time for the first frost. As light slowly vanishes, leaving the days shorter and nights darker, Odd Notion will be appropriate. It's an opaque black in appearance, with just a bit of fizz, as a stout should be. As well as hints of coco, Odd Notion has a lot of smoky flavor to it. Those looking for a candy bar in a can had better go with Young's Double Chocolate Stout; Odd Notion is better for matching with roast meats or paired with a glass of Bailey's.
Odd Notion is a beer to be savored, and thus I recommend it be drank only after you've dispatched the last reanimated corpse. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if Odd Notion's bitter chocolate suds contributed to a burdened stomach that thus limited your ability to escape the clutches of the undead. Besides, beer always tastes better after a little zombie killing.
(Photo by M.C.)
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
I picked up one of these samplers a couple of weeks ago, and no mention of what type of beer it is adorns the Odd Notion bottle. Never would I have guessed it was a chocolate stout. Good beer though.
Posted by: mountchuck | September 21, 2009 12:17 PM