Magic Hat "Circus Boy"

It's called "Circus Boy"
"Perfect for you" said D'Wife.

It was a pretty warm evening last night, so I went for it. It hadn't quite reached my 70° threshold for hefeweizen - the ultimate "lawnmower beer" - but I could make due.

After letting them chill for a while, I took one from the refrigerator. The unfiltered / unpasteurized yeast left a nice layer on the bottom of the bottle. Remembering Mike's advice, I slowly rolled the bottle on it side to ease the sediment back into the liquid, where it belonged, where I could enjoy it and those yummy vitamins. Returning the bottle upright, I gave it one gentle swirl to fully distribute the little buggers.

The bottle opened with a refershing pop."The Overachievers Underestimated the Rest of Us" were the words under the cap.

I poured it into my special "new beer" glass. It was a beautifully translucent golden yellow with a brilliant white head. Almost a lemon meringue in a glass.

I brought the glass to my nose. There are certain aromas which can trigger strong memories* Others are unmistakeable and can be linked to a specific, place we all know (for instance, if you combine the smell of coffee [with way too much cream and sugar] with the smell of kerosene, you get an airport. Try it yourself).

Circus Boy smelled like the bike shop I worked in ... fresh rubber - probably from the yeast - lemon Pledge, and Windex.

When I worked at The Peddler's Shoppe in Haddonfield, it was transitioning from a bike shop to a BMX / skateboard shop. Her name was Patti. I was a DeadHead tuner and she was a skatepunk ... very much the prototype for the sk8r grls we all know and love today ... very Avril Levigne (except Avril wasn't born yet). She was the one who convinced me to play bass ... her logic was simple "a guitar has 6 strings, you have 5 fingers; you're outnumbered. A bass on the other hand..."

There was a vacant apartment above, which oddly enough had the same locks as the shop, so the same set of keys opened both sets of doors. Being an older building, both upstairs and downstairs had very creaky hardwood floors (hence the Pledge), plus the hand-etched shop door (Windex)had one of those old jingle bells that rang whenever someone came in ... sort of an early warning device. It came in handy many times.

She's a nurse now, I believe.

Sorry, lost track.

Circus Boy, yes, right. It was very nice, sweet honey-lemony taste. It's not hoppy at all, not too dry.. If they keep it available through the summer, I will be happy. It won't be my go-to Sunday-after-yardwork beer, but it could come in handy with a cigar on the porch at sunset.