359 weeks of #beersaturday stretching back to before Hive was a thing! What a long, strange, beery trip it has been.

Being The Blockchain Beerologist definitely has its perks, including but not limited to getting paid to tour breweries and sample new beers! When I am not globetrotting or brewing my own beer, my fridge looks like a colorful mosaic of regional craft beer I enjoy sharing with the #beersaturday alliance of #beer bloggers on #hive.

This week, I sprinted to the store when a friend let me know a new IPA mix pack from one of our favourite breweries had landed.

Great Lakes Octo Mix Pack!

Boy oh boy was I excited to receive a text message from another #beerologist that there was not only another mix pack available from Great Lakes Brewery but it also featured IPAs! Those who know me know I am a hop head and am obsessed not only by IPAs, but new ones.

I normally link to the company page for an item but The Octo Mix Pack doesn't seem to be there and their search function is shit so this is a link to the item on the liquor store page. (Imagine a government organization having a better online representation of your product then you do!)

This mix pack looks purposely made for me. I LOVE Octopus Wants to Fight IPA buy it all the time, and have it firmly entrenched in my coveted Top 10 beers available year-round. I pick up the seasonal variations on this brand when they are available and LOVE that they have packaged them up special for me and my legions of followers from around the world.

Let's get to it!

Octo Light

Octo Lite Session IPA was the fist surprise in this collection. GLB makes some tasty session IPAs but never have I seen an octo-inspired one. I am really digging the increased effort in label design and attention to what works. Such a silly idea for this beer originally but it has worked out well and now has become a light beer.

This octopus does really want to be light and has cut some weight to get down to 3.6% abv. There is a special place in my fridge for these beers like when there is light day drinkin to be done in summer while on vacation, perhaps after mowing the lawn, or late at night when you have procrastinate your #beersaturday post too long. It has such a full but forgiving mouth feel and a very smooth citra/mosaic hop combination that is subtle but definitely not underdone. I hope this is available during the summer!
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Double Octo

If Octo Lite was a step up in illustration quality, Double Octo keeps on going with these 2 fierce-looking foes. Look at the enhanced attention to detail in the texture...and those eyebrows! Not sure why there are only 2 sets of gloves but I would pick the one on the left by KO with an overhand right.

8% abv is a heavy load but Double Octo manages to balance the strength with boldness and the smooth mouthfeel of added oats and wheat. It seems they leave so much residual sweetness in double IPAs and the added Simcoe hops dry it out a touch for more of that balance.

I like to pour my beers assertively so that plenty of oxygen activates the taste. Not sure if the beer is just fresh and creamy with the new mix pack or I was a little too aggressive. Perfect pour if you ask me as I had a mouthful of cream before diving into this one.

Fantastic mix 6 from a fabulous regional craft brewery!

#BEERSaturday!

We have all done it.... Join me, @detlev , and the other beerologists because there is always room for more beer bloggers at this week's Beer Saturday gathering... https://hive.blog/hive-187719/@detlev/beersaturday-359

This week for #BeerSaturday, I am inviting @numa26 who enjoyed craft beers in Buenos Aires! Take a few pictures, tag #beersaturday and raise a glass with us on Hive!