Magic hat leaves behind a transformed craft beer industry in Vermont
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Re: Magic hat leaves behind a transformed craft beer industry in Vermont
#2#9 is one of my favorite beers so I was bummed to see the title of this HN post. Reading the article it sounds like production is just being moved to Rochester though.
Re: Magic hat leaves behind a transformed craft beer industry in Vermont
#3#9 is one of my favorite beers so I was bummed to see the title of this HN post. Reading the article it sounds like production is just being moved to Rochester though.
>production is just being moved to Rochester though.
I don't think this really captures how important small business is to Vermont. This is likely culling a lot of jobs across the whole supply chain that locals rely on to survive.
Re: Magic hat leaves behind a transformed craft beer industry in Vermont
#4Wow, this is such a throwback. Along with Hoegaarden (pre-Inbev acquisition) and Harpoon's UFO White, #9 was one of my first forays into craft beer. That being said, it's been years since I've seen any Magic Hat on a shelf. Perhaps I'm not looking hard enough? Either way, here's hoping that Magic Hat makes a resurgence!
Re: Magic hat leaves behind a transformed craft beer industry in Vermont
#5I think while Magic Hat holds a place in the craft beer renaissance story, much of the regional beer from that era was unremarkable. The idea that it was better than the macro beers stemmed largely from the experimentation and derivation from American adjunct lagers.
As the smaller, more rabid craft beer industry grew from the late 90s, bigger regional brewers like MH never really evolved. Some of that might have been due to the acquisitions, but survival in this extremely saturated space means making a name for yourself via taste and/or quality and Magic Hat didn't measure up. Very few people I know would reach for a MH over a cheapo adjunct lager.
Re: Magic hat leaves behind a transformed craft beer industry in Vermont
#6Wow, this is such a throwback. Along with Hoegaarden (pre-Inbev acquisition) and Harpoon's UFO White, #9 was one of my first forays into craft beer. That being said, it's been years since I've seen any Magic Hat on a shelf. Perhaps I'm not looking hard enough? Either way, here's hoping that Magic Hat makes a resurgence!
I agree with the previous poster, I didn’t discover magic hat until about 5 years ago and it just didn’t stand out at all among the local craft scene. But I’m all for more good breweries.
Re: Magic hat leaves behind a transformed craft beer industry in Vermont
#7Wow, this is such a throwback. Along with Hoegaarden (pre-Inbev acquisition) and Harpoon's UFO White, #9 was one of my first forays into craft beer. That being said, it's been years since I've seen any Magic Hat on a shelf. Perhaps I'm not looking hard enough? Either way, here's hoping that Magic Hat makes a resurgence!
There’s a trick to #9. It is 10x better freshly brewed! I went to the magic hat brewery and had #9 there. The taste was so much better, you could tell it was due to the freshness. It ruined the beer for me though, because now I know what I’m buying off the shelf is a bit old.
Re: Magic hat leaves behind a transformed craft beer industry in Vermont
#8I think while Magic Hat holds a place in the craft beer renaissance story, much of the regional beer from that era was unremarkable. The idea that it was better than the macro beers stemmed largely from the experimentation and derivation from American adjunct lagers. As the smaller, more rabid craft beer industry grew from the late 90s, bigger regional brewers like MH never really evolved. Some of that might have bee…
There's certainly something to the increased competition in the craft brewing space and they seem not to have kept up, but I don't really follow your comparisons.
By American adjunct lagers, I assume you mean budweiser, coors, etc? Maybe Magic Hat also made a lager but I was most familiar with their #9 which was a floral, light IPA that was definitely a big step above a cheapo lager. And the article is saying that if anything they were too out-there and experimental, which is basically the opposite problem as being undifferentiated from all the other cheapo lagers.
Re: Magic hat leaves behind a transformed craft beer industry in Vermont
#9#9 is one of my favorite beers so I was bummed to see the title of this HN post. Reading the article it sounds like production is just being moved to Rochester though.
It's being rolled up into Genny.
Vermont doesn't have much going for it economically. Winters are hit or miss for skiing, dairy is dying, etc. Small scale agriculture is the business there. Once you leave Burlington and the immediate vicinity, things look alot less prosperous. Moving a small operation like this is a slow cut that impacts local farms, etc.
Re: Magic hat leaves behind a transformed craft beer industry in Vermont
#10There are so many good east coast brews that we rarely, if ever, see on the west coast. I pick up Magic Hat whenever I see it, and they've always been good -- didn't know they were such a revolutionary force, and that the (very good) beer that I buy from them was even better back in the day.