Every day is a good day for beer. (Especially today.)

You know your day is off to a good start when you come to work and four bombers of quality craft brew are sitting in your chair.  Not a whole lot matters after that, because obviously the Beer Fairy is in town.  Or just a grateful/awesome coworker.  (The Beer Fairy should totally be a real thing, though.)  Now, I consider myself a polite southerner, and I'm not going to diss on any free beer given to me, and fortunately I don't have to, because free beer is one thing, but between two Dogfish Heads (Black & Blue and Chateau Jiahu), a Weyerbacher anniversary concoction (knowing Weyerbacher, it's probably stacked to death with hops, and I am ok with this) and Bear Republic Hot Rod Rye, I doubt there's a bad one in the bunch.  We shall see.

The only thing that could top that would possibly be an after-work jaunt to Sam's Quick Shop, so that's exactly what I did, naturally.  I was happy to find another Dogfish Head limited release - Immort Ale (see what they did there?) and Sweetwater's Road Trip.  Read this blog enough and I'm sure you'll catch me singing multiple praises for both of these breweries before too long.

But for now, I figured as long as I'm typing sentences about beer, they might as well be about the beer I'm actually drinking.

Coney Island Albino Python - Shmaltz Brewing Co.

The same geniuses that bring you the "chosen beers" from He'Brew also provide a selection of decidedly delicious beers with decidedly creepy carnival vibe.  And while every beer of theirs I've come across has been excellent, their mascot... Well, here:



I know, right?  I apologize for showing you that, because he'll haunt your dreams, but fortunately he's on another bottle.  The one I'm concerned about is much less offensive (unless you're one of those feminist types or whatever...)



The labels may be creepy, but the beer most definitely is not.  This particular brew is a white lager brewed with spices, and while that's an appropriate description, I find myself enjoying this more than most white beers, or beers with spices.  (Screw you, Blue Moon, I know you're made by Coors!) So many of these tend to be a bit too spicy, or too fruity, or just too wheaty to have anything really interesting going on.  Not the python, though.

It pours a beautiful light orange/amber, darker than most, with the requisite yeasty particulates.  Be warned though, my bomber practically exploded when I opened it - it took awhile for the foam to go down, but once it did, there was a nice thin line that held up for almost the entire time.  The minor explosion was probably my own fault for keeping it in a too-cold fridge, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.  But like real pythons, it was when this bad boy got a little warmed up it's character really came out.

The python's nose is fruity, as one would expect from the style.  Mostly orange, but the aforementioned spices come through as well - I detected cinnamon, and also some ginger, which may sound weird, but don't knock it until you try it.  Every beer I've had that included ginger in some form has been out of this world - it's a growing trend in craft brewing that I am absolutely a fan of.

But what of the actual taste?  This is where the python shines.  Where I find fault with so many hefes, this beer succeeds admirably - namely, everything about it is balanced and subtle without being boring, and the light hint of spice lingers throughout.  As with most lagers, there's almost no hop character to be found, which works for me for this style.  There's enough going on in this beer that it's completely unnecessary. There's a hint of orange at the start that fades to a slight cinnamon/ginger/coriander aftertaste that speaks up just enough to be noticed and says "hey, have another sip."  So I did.  And again, and again, and so on.

All in all, a very drinkable beer.  It's interesting enough for one to sit up and take notice, but not complex enough to limit repeat pints.  A well-built beer that would definitely be easy to drink more than one of on a hot summer day.  Or a chilly spring day, like today.  Or any day, really.

This beer is awesome, go drink some.