How about an Octoberfest? (Harpoon is my favorite). 'tis the season. I actually stumbled across a 'pumpkin' beer at my local co-op last week. (Shipyard from Maine, it was like a pumpkin pie flavored malt beverage... strangely tasty.)
I'll admit I'm one of those girls who actually prefers beer to mixed drinks, but I'm picky and prefer micro-brews. Some of my favorites are local VT brews, which are pretty easy to find throughout NY and New England but probably haven't reached their way in wide distribution to you yet, Pat. But, in case you come across them, my favorites are Wolaver's Organic and the Long Trail seasonal beers. The Wolaver's Brown is my favorite, the Oatmeal Stout is the only stout I've ever really liked (other than chocolate stouts). Wolaver's is made by Otter Creek brewing, but I tend to like it better than the darker/heavier beers they produce under the Otter Creek label. And you may actually be able to find it in natural/organic food stores like Whole Foods, which are starting to widely distribute it, since it's one of the few that's 100% organic. Long Trail has a 'Blackbeary Wheat' summer beer which I bet Pam would like. The winter season Harvest and Hibernator are both good too (a lot of flavor but not too dark/heavy) and the original 'Long Trail Ale' has the widest distribution. Magic Hat is probably the most widely distributed beer from VT, but living in Burlington you get sick of it, especially #9.... but I still really enjoy Blind Faith and the summer wheat Hocus Pocus every once in a while. And now you know what to try if you ever find yourself at show in VT.
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