Mixing It Up With Mr. X

I’ve always been a fan of those 12-pack mixers that many craft breweries put out, where they give you either 3 or 4 different types of beer to try out. I like sampling new beers, and this is a good way to make some new discoveries.

As I’ve written about before, though, there’s typically at least one shitty beer (Exhibit A: Sam Adams Cranberry Lambic) in the mix, so I rarely find myself trying the same mixer twice. The one exception is probably Magic Hat, because they do a good job of varying their mix packs by season, and even changing up the beers from year to year.

I also like the Redhook mixer, but it’s pretty basic. They’ve got their summer, the ESB, and the Longhammer IPA. All solid picks, but nothing too spectacular.

Probably my favorite 12-pack mixer of all time was a Brooklyn one I picked up for a party a year or two ago. It had the Pennant Ale, the Lager, and a couple of others I haven’t been able to find since.

The other day, I was looking to try a new mixer. I scouted out a couple of different ones, including one that had a shandy in the mix, but wound up settling on a mixer from Atlantic Brewing Co. out of Portland, Maine. What drew me to it was the fact that it had both a porter (called the Coal Porter — nice touch!) and a blueberry beer. I’m not a huge fruity beer fan, but I do enjoy a blueberry beer from time to time if it’s not to sweet.

All four of the beers I sampled were pretty good. The Bar Harbor Real Ale was pretty basic, but the porter was quite good, as was the blueberry. The fourth beer was a bit more funky. Called the Mount Desert Island Ginger, it had actual ginger in it. Still, it was pretty drinkable. And it was a hell of a lot better than Cranberry Lambic.

Mr. X is a contributor to the Beer Drinking Report. He was very excited to find Brooklyn Summer in a can over the weekend.