Another entry in my occasional series of posts about variety 12-packs…

As the calendar turns to October I’m embracing fall brew, and over the first weekend of October I sampled a couple of fall mixed 12-packs.

Starr Hill Brewery Fall Tour Variety Pack

This 12-pack from Starr Hill Brewery in Crozet, Virginia is a tour through four of Starr Hill’s best offerings.

• Northern Lights IPA, a classic American-style IPA (6.2%)
• Boxcar Pumpkin Porter, an English-style Porter with subtle flavors of pumpkin (4.7%)
• Double Platinum, an Imperial IPA (8.6%)
• Jomo, a smooth Vienna-style Lager (4.6%)

As I’m sampling the Starr Hill fall pack, I feel like there’s something missing — what happened to Festie?! Despite the absence of one of my favorite local fall brews (is Starr Hill even brewing Festie anymore?), I love this 12-pack for the Double Platinum.

Magic Hat Night of the Living Dead Variety 12-Pak

This 12-pack from Magic Hat Brewing Company in Burlington, Vermont offers three new beers with an old stand-by:

• #9, Magic Hat’s flagship beer, a Pale Ale with apricot flavor (5.1%)
• Magic Hat Ale, this Irish-style Red Ale was Magic Hat’s first-ever brew, resurrected  for this 12-pack (4.6%)
• Miss Bliss, a wry ale kissed with coriander, orange peel, and a rich malt character (4.5%)
• Wilhelm Scream, a Pumpkin Ale with flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, and caramel (5.4%)

I love Magic Hat’s creative descriptions of their beers — they say Night of the Living Dead will scare the howl out of autumn thirsts and exorcise the season’s most frightening fluid cravings. After downing this 12-pack, I couldn’t agree more!

While I’m on the topic of fall 12-packs, I’ll add Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest, one of the best Fest beers I’ve had this year:

I couldn’t wait to try this one after reading about it in the Washington Post. Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest did not disappoint!