Joe Sixpack Reports

A big, juicy hop monster from Vermont – imagine that! This one’s surprisingly sweet, with the kind of fruity aroma you’d expect from a box of pear-flavored CapriSun. It finishes with a bitter bite, giving you a chance to consider what’s up with that name. A pot reference? Steroids? Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan? I dunno, take another gulp and enjoy a very solid double IPA

Half Acre (Chicago)
Pilsner
ALCOHOL: 5.8%

SIXPACK SEZ: No it wasn’t the monkey riding a horse on the label that prompted me to grab this can at my local bottle shop. Instead, it was the name –  pony – that brought back memories of those tiny 7-ounce bottles I used to gulp on hot summer days. Miller, Rolling Rock and the perfectly named Little Kings… aaaah! This short trip down memory lane was brought to you by a 12-ounce can ...

Firestone Walker (Paso Robles, Calif.)
American wheat
ALCOHOL: 5.9%

SIXPACK SEZ: I’m tempted to shrug this off as just another rotating hop series from a California brewery (do those west coast guys have anything else in their playbook?). But this one got off to a good start with a wheat-based brew that shies away from overly bitter flavor and plays up the fruitiness of new hop varieties. It’s quite smooth and mellow. Let’s see where brewer Matt Brynildson takes the ...