OudErnest

To me, apricot in a beer = novelty.

Couldn't agree more. In fact 90% of Magic Hat's beers are novelty beers IMO. More importantly they use the crappy Ringwood yeast that gives off the flawed diacetyl flavor (buttered popcorn)- http://beerme.com/diacetyl.php

. If they used a cleaner yeast strain their beers would be much better. While the #9 gets decent but not great reviews on Beer Advocate the brewery as a whole gets very mediocre reviews which I feel is due to the gimmicky beers and bad yeast strain. Bottom line: if you're going to go so far out you rway to bring in coffee from Intelligentsia coffee you can do better than Magic Hat beers considering all the amazing breweries in New England.

Wacko's made with beets, that's where the red comes from.

There are beets in it from what I've read but my guess is that color is the result of food coloring or added sugar and fruit (or beet) syrup Natural beet would ferment out and leave little color unless used in enormous proportions, which in turn would boost the abv. Wacko is only 4.5% abv so my guess is artificial coloring and flavoring. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/96/48190

a truly wonderful weekend of music, art and theater. I can't really add anything more than what's already been said. I've seen Wilco over twenty times and Tweedy maybe three or four and these past two performances were top notch. Nels Cline Singers was delightful as was the Baseball Project, Vetiver and Autumn Defense. We camped with our 9 and 4 yr-old girls so we didn't get to see everything as we didn't want to push it as we were looking at very long days for them already. That said I commend the organizers for the kid friendly scene. Really enjoyed the exhibits at MassMoca as well. Now to my complaint, and it's minor, some would say even trivial in the scheme of such a perfect confluence of sound and vision that was this past weekend, but being a beer judge and all around beer geek I have to say it: the beer choices left a lot to be desired. When they first announced the fest and I read online that no alcohol would be allowed in I called MassMoca and was assured that they would be providing local craft beers. Well, Magic Hat just doesn't cut it in my book nor are they local. to make matters worses three of the four booths were serving only fruit beers (#9 -apricot & Wacko - cherry? what was with that fake red color?). IDon't get me wrong I like fruit beers when they're done well or from Belgium, or both. I could have lived with their Blind Faith IPA but only one booth that I found was selling it and they ran out! And like I said the other booths were ONLY selling the fruit beers. There are a number of independent craft brewers in Western Ma, southern VT and New Hampshire so not sure why they had to get the beer from way up in Burlington VT. Hopefully next year they'll offer more diverse and eclectic choices. Price was right though, $5 is very reasonable. I've read that the music series in Holyoke Ma at Mountain Park and Newport Folk Fest sell only Magic Hat so maybe Magic Hat's just throwing down a ton of money to get exclusive beer rights. Strange though as Lagunitas Brewing from Petaluma, CA was listed as a sponsor on the Solid Sound web site. The only Lagunitas I saw all weekend was the bottle of IPA that Mike Mills was drinking during the Baseball Project set. Too bad it wasn't for sale to the general public as it's a far superior brewery to Magic hat IMHO.

Actually, I was disappointed in the Hartford Courant review. I think Eric Danton was the only one in the audience with sound issues. In fact, many people, including Jeff Tweedy, commented on how nice the sound was. Even giving Mr. Danton the benefit of the doubt about the sound in the opening moments of the show, which is a stretch, does it really deserve to be the lead in to the story? It made it seem like there were major issues with the show. Ditto for his comments on the "empty" Oakdale show, which he also mentions in the first paragraph. If you can find it online, check out his misinformed and confused review of Wilco's Northampton show from a few years ago (I think it was at the Calvin Theatre, not to be confused with the two Pines Theatre shows from just north of Northampton ). I'm sorry but the guy doesn't get it. The New Haven Advocate and New London Day reviews (both online) are far superior.

Here are the articles BTW:

http://www.newhavenadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=6069

http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=7f5a5c56-...7b-d620336aa69d

Actually, I was disappointed in the Hartford Courant review. I think Eric Danton was the only one in the audience with sound issues. In fact, many people, including Jeff Tweedy, commented on how nice the sound was. Even giving Mr. Danton the benefit of the doubt about the sound in the opening moments of the show, which is a stretch, does it really deserve to be the lead in to the story? It made it seem like there were major issues with the show. Ditto for his comments on the "empty" Oakdale show, which he also mentions in the first paragraph. If you can find it online, check out his misinformed and confused review of Wilco's Northampton show from a few years ago (I think it was at the Calvin Theatre, not to be confused with the two Pines Theatre shows from just north of Northampton ). I'm sorry but the guy doesn't get it. The New Haven Advocate and New London Day reviews (both online) are far superior.

Don't overlook the wonderful Modern Apizza on State St. It's as old, and as good, as Pepe's or Sally's on Wooster St and it opens at 1:00 on Sunday versus 4:00 for the others. It's also less expensive than the others and much easier to get into to but, again, every bit as good or better (it's where the locals get their New Haven Apizza ("Ah-beets"). It's about a 15 minute walk from the Shubert. Bru Room At Bar has very good pie (pizza) as well and it's a brewpub. It's around the corner from the Shubert. Rudy's rocks and they have a Belgian Frites (french fries) counter in the bar w/many sauces. Great juke box too.

I have one extra ticket, mezzanine E-23, at cost ($40 which includes service fees). Email ernest_lambic@hotmail.com if you're interested.

I personally feel that Modern Apizza ("ah-beets") is the best in town but you can't go wrong with Pepe's Apizza, Sally's Apizza or the newcomer Bru Room at Bar either. Bar is closest to the Shubert, only about a two minute walk, and their pizza is very good and it's a brewpub as well. Rudy's is less than a 10 minute walk and Louie's Lunch does make amazing burgers but I believe they're closed on Sundays. Bentara, about a 10 minute walk & several blocks south of the Shubert in the Ninth Squaree district, is a fabulous Malaysian restaurant as well. If you're into art the Yale Art Gallery and Yale British Gallery are two of the finest small musuems in the country, and they're free. As far as the Hartford-New Haven debate goes there is no debate. As someone who has worked in "downtown" Hartford for 18 years and who is also a resident of New Haven I can say without a doubt that New Haven blows Hartford away in every category. I agree with the comment here in that Hartford is one of the most boring cities on the planet earth. The only thing on the streets of Hartford after 5:00 are tumble weeds.