#9 - Magic Hat Brewing Company

damndirtyape

Ohio

2.48/5  rDev -27.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2

12oz bottle (best by 02/28/11) poured into a milkshake pilsner glass.

Appearance: Crystal clear golden yellow beer with a persistent 1/8" dense white head. Strands, walls, and islands of lacing as I drank it down were seen. When held up to the light along with the plentiful bubbles you can see what looks like a faint peach color to the beer - making the beer almost a rose gold in color. A nice looking beer.

Smell: Apricot mostly and only as it warms up. When cold the apricot smell is a bit off. It's not quite doing it for me.

Taste: Apricot up front colliding into what tastes like an adjunct lager to my taste buds. A bit sulfur-like in flavor at times (cooked veggie? maybe the taste of the smell of a perm if that makes sense to you, it does to me). The finish is bitter with a lingering fruit (apricot again) flavor. Well, this is a fruit beer, but it's an acquired taste and I'm not sure I've acquired it.

Mouthfeel: Good carbonation on the tongue with some lingering sensation on the teeth. Thicker than water but I can't say that the beer goes down smooth exactly. I am almost tempted to say that the carbonation becomes fizzy on the way down.

Drinkability: Definitely not for me. One and done and it becomes a bit of a chore to finish by the end. I'll give the beer high marks for a unique appearance, but then the enjoyment ends.

Serving type: bottle

01-05-2011 23:39:31 | More by damndirtyape

NormLobstah

Virginia

3/5  rDev -12%

05-25-2013 03:43:12 | More by NormLobstah

danwho

California

3.5/5  rDev +2.6%

05-25-2013 02:34:56 | More by danwho

dougbassett

Pennsylvania

3.34/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

One of the "1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die" -- #25 of the ones I've reviewed here.

An odd beer -- I wish they hadn't been so coy with the label and marketing and just straight up confessed to what this is, an odd attempt to blend apricots into a pale ale. Color is very nice and is best thing about this one, it has a rich golden brown, very reminiscent of a dried apricot, in fact.

Dried apricots are sort of the theme here. It smells noticeably of dried apricots, not high-quality ones but the kind you might buy in a tub in a grocery store. The flavors are an attempt to marry this sort of dried apricot flavor with a basic sort of pale ale -- it's not a happy marriage, there's neither enough apricot nor enough hop flavoring to really make either side noticeable, rather the flavors sort of mishmash together unsatisfyingly, the hop bitterness undercutting the apricot sweetness, the apricot sweetness muting the punch of the ale.

It's not a bad beer, it's drinkable, but if somebody was to ask me to point to a badly-balanced beer, this is the example I would use.

Serving type: bottle

05-24-2013 22:24:55 | More by dougbassett

MadWolf

Ohio

3.75/5  rDev +10%

05-24-2013 20:18:08 | More by MadWolf

mcewesr

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -12%

05-24-2013 17:03:49 | More by mcewesr

sgregory

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev +24.6%

05-24-2013 00:13:24 | More by sgregory

gritz147

Louisiana

3.25/5  rDev -4.7%

05-23-2013 23:00:01 | More by gritz147

jeffjeff1

California

3.28/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

Appearance- copper color, 1/2 inch head, nice lacing

Smell- malt, hops, for a fruit beer, I didn't smell any fruit at all. I thought it was a pale ale.

Taste- light hops and malt flavor

Mouthfeel- medium bodied

Drinkability- It was ok but it certainly didn't taste like a fruit beer. I thought it was a pale ale.

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2013 21:44:13 | More by jeffjeff1

John_Crozier

New Jersey

3.25/5  rDev -4.7%

05-23-2013 19:43:45 | More by John_Crozier

tennisoscar1

Delaware

3.25/5  rDev -4.7%

05-23-2013 05:18:23 | More by tennisoscar1

Twal

Colorado

2.25/5  rDev -34%

05-23-2013 00:58:52 | More by Twal

jbdpsu82

Pennsylvania

1.5/5  rDev -56%

05-22-2013 17:47:01 | More by jbdpsu82

RichGord

South Carolina

3.75/5  rDev +10%

05-22-2013 13:01:41 | More by RichGord

Bikeboy1

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev +2.6%

05-22-2013 12:59:37 | More by Bikeboy1

InfernoBoss

California

2.75/5  rDev -19.4%

05-22-2013 06:08:22 | More by InfernoBoss

backbaybrewer

Massachusetts

1/5  rDev -70.7%

05-22-2013 02:54:22 | More by backbaybrewer

morrowd3

Vermont

3.5/5  rDev +2.6%

05-22-2013 01:30:59 | More by morrowd3

yeahman

Ohio

1.08/5  rDev -68.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1

Had this from a mixed pack that my wife bought.
Looks hazy.
Smells like a dry apricot.
Flat and uninteresting flavor and mouthfeel.

I thought id give this a try since my wife seems to like it. Maybe her review will balance out my glaringly bad review.

Is the #9 in reference to how many attempts it took for them to get to this flavor profile? Maybe they should have a #10. Just sayin.

Serving type: bottle

05-21-2013 17:54:40 | More by yeahman

DarthBeer

Texas

3.5/5  rDev +2.6%

05-21-2013 15:20:55 | More by DarthBeer

johntfox

Florida

3.5/5  rDev +2.6%

05-21-2013 02:07:54 | More by johntfox

JoyHelfrich

Illinois

3.25/5  rDev -4.7%

05-21-2013 01:57:08 | More by JoyHelfrich

kingmaker

Louisiana

3.25/5  rDev -4.7%

05-21-2013 00:35:56 | More by kingmaker

Tertullian007

Missouri

3/5  rDev -12%

05-20-2013 23:51:12 | More by Tertullian007

Hermanater

Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -4.7%

05-19-2013 23:11:07 | More by Hermanater