Before I get to the heavy stuff, let me review some beers. Magic Hat Number 9: a bit of apricot, and it works! Yuengling Premium: for a cheap-o beer, this is quite drinkable; none of the metallic hop flavors that most cheap beers have, even has some malty smoothness (still a bit watery, but what do you want for a 6 under $5 ??). Wolavers Pale Ale: not all that hoppy, but satisfying enough, a nice balance between hops and malt. Organic too. Sam Adams Cream Stout: well, not bad for an A-B affiliate. It is indeed a stout, with lots of body, a somewhat sweet background, hops nicely balanced (not the gagging sensation you get from that watery Irish bully, Guiness). Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale: Bill was becoming an autumn tradition, but for the past 3 years all you could get here in NJ was Post Road Pumpkin. But the other day I saw Bill’s back in the cooler, so I brought home a 6. Bill is better (if you like pumpkin pie in your beer – and I do!). Ramapo Valley Brew Pub (Suffern, NY) Harvest Wheat: a good all-around blonde wheat, nice body, clove backdrop, well balanced. Flying Fish ESB: not quite an English ESB, but maybe that’s a good thing. Drinkable enough, not overly malty but not watery either. As you can see, I generally don’t have anything bad to say about beer.