Last week, I took a leap of faith by reviewing a Sam Adams Spring Thaw variety pack and was punished for my hubris with Nemo. For this, I apologize. In the aftermath of Nemo, I drank a second Spring Thaw pack, knowing the catastrophically potential consequences. We were all fortunate the snow melted this time. If you’re at Tops or Wegmans, check out the rest of the pack, which includes two Boston Lagers, Irish Reds and Alpine Springs.

The Maple Pecan Porter is a little crazy. This beer is your uncle’s second wife’s son from her previous marriage who spent two semesters and six years hanging around the University of Vermont before moving into their basement with a new beard of substantial length and dubious hygiene. This porter is dark, has a heavy body and tastes like maple syrup. I recommend this beer because it confidently steps outside the box with the combination of nutty flavors from the roasted malts and the sweetness of the maple accents that swim around in the reddish-black swamp of this full-flavored, slightly bitter brew. Maple Pecan Porter is 5.6% alcohol by volume. If you’re planning on tackling your 12 pack in two days, I would recommend splitting up the two Porters because it is a plus-size brew that deserves your respect.

Sam’s White Lantern is a Belgian white-style ale that has a beautiful, golden color in the glass that goes well with a complex aroma that draws from a variety of spices. The first sip has a crisp finish and a citrusy spice taste that lingers in your mouth. The body is very light, and you can see that at least part of the fermentation process occurred in the bottle because not all of the yeast has been filtered out. You can taste the obsessive compulsiveness in Sam Adams’ choice of spices. It’s never enough to create a distinctive flavor palette; the brewers need to use specific ingredients from specific farms. Blue Moon thinks about White Lantern the way your Dad used to think about his Farrah Fawcett poster. White Lantern is 5.5% abv, and is a nice palette-cleanser between darker brews.

Double Agent is an India Pale Lager – that’s right, an IPL. I have never heard of another beer that combines the citrus and pine flavors of West Coast hops with the smoothness that is characteristic of lagers. A lager is brewed for longer and at a lower temperature with different varieties of yeast than an ale, lending it a sweet, crisp finish. What makes the Double Agent special is the tempering of the bitterness that accompanies the large amount of hops with the sweet flavors that come from the malts and lager yeast. Double Agent lives up to its name because it has a value of 43 on the International Bittering Units (IBU) scale that is nearly twice the amount of hops in the next bitterest beer. The India Pale Lager is not as formidable as most IPAs at only 5% abv. The low alcohol content for a beer with such a large quantity of hops is worth the novel concept and flavors. I highly recommend convincing your friends to try this beer and then stealing it from them. Tell them they blacked out, or just buy it yourself.