Tap Handle #56: Magic Hat - Circus Boy Hefeweizen

I love this tap. It reminds me of Nightcrawler from the X-Men. Lots of great little details like spiders, skull and crossbones, and the rickety ladder. Although it came with a little flag on top, it is very hard to find one with the flag intact. This is the old-style tap...the new tap is not figural.

Click through to read more about Magic Hat and their Circus Boy Hefeweizen...


Brewer Bob Johnson and entrepreneur Alan founded Magic Hat Brewing in 1994 in Burlington, Vermont. They distributed up and down the East Coast, and moved to their current location in 1997. Success led to an increased distribution network, and in 2008 they were big enough to buy the struggling Pyramid Brewing in Seattle and MacTarnahan's in Portland, establishing a West Coast distribution network. The purchases were made by an equity firm called Independent Brewers United (IBU). However, in 2010, IBU was bought by another equity firm, North American Breweries (NAB), who had purchased Labatt's, Dundee, and Genesee from Anheuser-Busch. Magic Hat is the 10th largest craft brewery in the country.

Circus Boy is an American-style Hefeweizen sold year-round. It is not a true Hefeweizen due to a serious infusion of lemongrass which alters the aroma and taste significantly. Weighted average on ratebeer.com is 2.77 out of 5.

Magic Hat Official Website - it's beautifully strange.