Miasmatic Review

Magic Hat #9

Since Petey and Bruce both have their twelve beers, I can finally move onto beers donated by other people. Other’s want their glasses as well. This evening I will be reviewing #9 by Magic Hat Brewing Company in South Burlington, VT. Blogless friend Wil brought this beer all the way back just for me to review on one of his many trips across the country.

It came in the standard brown bottle. According to the label, it is ¾ pint bottle, apparently some math genius at the brewery thought that was funnier than putting 12 fl oz. on the bottle. The label is some kind of psychedelic red and orange color round label. The center of the label has #9 mixed into the swirls and whorls. In green on the label it states “Not quite pale ale.”

The color is golden amber with a slight orange tint. When poured into a pint glass, a quarter inch thick head consisting of tiny densely packed bubbles formed at the top of the beer that faded slowly. There was some lacing on the side of the glass.

The scent of apricots is so overpowering you can barely detect anything else. What can be found is a slight bit of hops and maybe grain, but it’s hard to tell because of the strength of the apricot scent. The flavor is surprisingly mild compared to the scent. Apricots are primarily what you taste. Hops and grains can be tasted, but they are very weak and washed out that you can barely taste them. However, they all combine together so that when the beer washes over the taste buds at the back of the tongue, it gives the beer a soap like flavor. The taste isn’t strong enough to leave an aftertaste.

This beer confuses me. It might be “not quite pale ale”, but it’s also not quite much of anything. The apricot flavor, where overpowering compared to the rest of the flavors, really isn’t strong enough for a fruit beer. The grains and hops really aren’t present enough to really be able to adequately classify this beer as anything else. I guess it falls under fruit beer by process of elimination. It’s really not a bad beer. I don’t know if I would go out of my way for it, but I wouldn’t pass one up if given to me. I give this 4 out of 10.