It's cold outside.

Being stuck in the house accomplishing almost nothing, the question dawned on me: “Am I wasting my life?” Looking through the list of 198 Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes on  my hard drive, I started to wonder if I should spend almost 13 (nonstop) days in front of the TV. To think about wasting two weeks in front of the TV just seems nuts, and that’s just one show! There were 121 episodes of LOST. I watched every one. 121 hours of my life gone, and for what? To realize that the writers totally copped out and had no idea where they were going.

I live in this frozen ice hell by choice though, so I’m gonna go drink another beer and watch TV until spring. Which reminds me, I picked up Magic Hat Brewing Company’s “Spring Fever Mix!” 

The graphic design on this is pretty cool. I’ve always liked boom boxes. (For you kids that don’t know, that thing on the front is a cassette tape. While being about the same size as an IPod, they only hold a couple of albums and require a stereo to play.)  Inside the case, Magic Hat’s staple, #9, is always refreshing. It used to be rated at 4.6% alcohol but this is the second different seasonal variety pack I’ve bought where it’s listed at 5.1%. I assume it is a permanent change at this point and welcome it. The extra alcohol gives it a little more kick that gets rid of the excessive apricot taste, leaving you with more than enough to know this isn’t a normal ale, but not overpoweringly so.  Also always present in their variety packs is Circus Boy, an American-style hefeweizen. While I prefer a real German weiss, their version isn’t offensive and its relatively low alcohol (4.4%) makes it very drinkable which is a plus. I’m diggin’ the seasonal amber lager, Vinyl. I usually don’t like the muted taste of lagers but this one was smooth and full of flavor, a nice combination. The final beer in this mix is Demo, a black india pale ale. This style contradicts itself in so many ways. How can you have a pale black? It pours dark but it has all of the taste of an IPA. It’s no secret that I love IPAs, and this style intrigues me. I would have thought that mixing in a bunch of dark malts would pretty much change the beer entirely, but really it just adds to the experience. So if you’re as bored as me in these last couple months of winter, I recommend wasting away on the couch with a case of Magic Hat’s Spring Fever Mix and 198 episodes (plus one feature length movie) of Mystery Science Theater 3000.