Odd Notion - English Dark Mild (Summer 2008) - Magic Hat Brewing Company

rtratzlaff

North Carolina

3.75/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Pours a clear light brown/reddish color. A slight white head leaves some lacing.

Smells are roasted malt with a smokiness to it, not much in the way of hop character.

Taste is malty but light with a decent smoke roastiness to it. A good bit of carbonation with a light mouthfeel. Flavorful for a summer seasonal session beer.

Not bad. Not in your face but a great session beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2008 23:56:23 | More by rtratzlaff

cliff1066

Virginia

4/5  rDev +13%

12-22-2012 03:26:19 | More by cliff1066

Goldfoot

Michigan

5/5  rDev +41.2%

12-16-2011 16:29:20 | More by Goldfoot

dave00100

Vermont

5/5  rDev +41.2%

12-10-2011 18:19:52 | More by dave00100

barnzy78

Illinois

2.5/5  rDev -29.4%

11-28-2011 04:36:57 | More by barnzy78

waiting4lunch

Massachusetts

3/5  rDev -15.3%

11-18-2011 17:13:42 | More by waiting4lunch

mikesgroove

South Carolina

3.33/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

reviewed from notes, this one was serve in a pint glass during a magic hat tasting i had with my brother in law down at his apartment.

The pour was very nice, rich looking medium brown with a mild cloudiness about it. Rich color here with a nice head of off white which hung around for a few moments before settling down into a thin film. The aroma was light, medium fruit notes, apricot maybe with a hint of some light spice and tons of grain. More of the same on the taste as I run through on this one. The flavor was a bit lacking for me. Nice malt profile with a light ouch of fruit and spice, but not nearly strong enough of a profile to really get me to enjoy it. Smooth, mellow carbonation and a low abv made it nice and and drinkable, though a bit dull.

Serving type: bottle

02-19-2011 13:37:40 | More by mikesgroove

Pleepleus

New York

2.85/5  rDev -19.5%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Review from notes.
Poured from bottle to Pint glass like a Coke, it had the same dark brown color and the same bubbly head as a soda poured from a warm 2 liter bottle. The head settled to a solid sheen with minimal clinging lace. Had a faint malty smell. Tasted of malts with a slight hint of smokiness, but I can't get the Cola taste out of my mind. Medium body and carbonation, and drinkable enough. Had this from a sample pack and I don't ever expect to have it again.

Serving type: bottle

08-08-2009 00:45:27 | More by Pleepleus

tmoneyba

Ohio

3.63/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle sample at Jungle Jim's.

Poured clear reddish brown with an average fizzy off-white head that diminished slowly with good lacing. Moderate complex roasted sweet malty aroma. Medium body with a sticky texture. Medium sweet roasted flavor with a medium sweet finish of moderate duration.

Soft drinkable beer.

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2009 00:00:07 | More by tmoneyba

mralphabet

Virginia

3.5/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12 Oz Bottle poured into pint glass

A: Nice Brown Red about a fingers worth of head.... very little lacing

S: I'm getting burnt Malt, spices.... smoke and some bread like scents.... Complex yet simple.

T: Malty is right upfront... notes of bread and a light smokiness... Very simple yet complex flavor.... Kind of like a light porter.... Very interesting and well balanced.

M: A little on the thin side... I would say English Dark Mild Ale is right on the money.... Carbonation is very nice for this type of brew...

D: Magic Hat does it again... A different take on Summer Beer... yet it hits the marks for a darker beer and also hits the marks for summer brew as well.... Very enjoyable...

Final Comments: Sadly this brew will not be around next summer... But I look forward to what they in the upcoming season boxes...

Serving type: bottle

01-26-2009 05:47:10 | More by mralphabet

kevd193213

Rhode Island

2.78/5  rDev -21.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

7 oz draught sample. Pale yellow pour with a tiny fizzy head that quickly dissipates. Aroma of vinegar-cider and apple peels. Taste is very thin and watery with a faint artificial sour finish. Nice try by a good brewery, but this is pretty poor. Could have been the tap but this place rotates regularly.

Serving type: on-tap

01-09-2009 00:55:45 | More by kevd193213

bheilman

Indiana

2.98/5  rDev -15.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

A little flat; a lot malty; not a bad beer, but nothing exceptional here. Reminds me of a German malt-rich ale. Not a higly drinkable beer and the non-carbonatin of it sort of makes me not want to grab another. I have been a little disappointed with Magic Hat though, and I think this is one of the ones I like most. The other wheat and lighter beers were a little too ordinary for my liking.

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2008 23:24:13 | More by bheilman

DrJay

Massachusetts

3.55/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Bottle courtesy of Ding as part of Good, Bad, and Ugly BIF. Thanks!
Quite clear with a mahogany colour, bit of an orange tint. Quickly dissipating cap of whitish foam left a slim collar behind, not much in the way of lacing. Malty aroma, notes of chocolate and roasted malts. Same in the flavour with moderate bitterness for the gravity, plus mild hop character. Lingering caramelized sugar. Light bodied and drying, carbonation was average but a little too high for my tastes. Pleasant and easy to drink.

Serving type: bottle

10-10-2008 23:23:55 | More by DrJay

aquatonex

New York

3.35/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This came as the seasonal in the Magic Hat summer pack. Their seasonals are hit or miss, this one was middle of the road.

Pours dark brown, like cola, with a tan creamy head that fizzles out and swirls around with good lacing. Caramels and malts dominate the nose, with a bit of alcohols as well. Taste follows with maltiness and sweetness. It's a little gaggy and thin on the swallow, but if you want a malty slightly sweet kinda beer then this is a good selection.

Serving type: bottle

10-06-2008 00:36:12 | More by aquatonex

CrellMoset

Virginia

3.48/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Bottle courtesy of the fundraiser I put on recently - to the victor go the spoils! Poured into a traditional pint glass.

Appearance: Pours a dark ruddy-brown bodied beer, transparent, with a quick settling, bubbly tan head. Carbonation is of an average level, but very fast and active. Lacing is nonexistent. Stylistically accurate, if nothing amazing.

Aroma: Incredibly faint and one-dimensional. Just that heavy dextrin, toasty malt scent. Not too appealing.

Taste: Mild, but nice. Lots of toasted malts - chocolate, coffee, heavy toast - and heavier dextrins, as well as one or two lighter sweet notes (certainly the candi sugar). Almost no hop presence, but there is a faint grassy twang and an almost imperceptible bitterness near the finish (though that could be toasted malt astringencies).

Mouthfeel: Crisp and bubbly, almost airy thin. Mouth itself is uneven, and dextrins and other sugars leave a bit of a coat.

Drinkability: Nothing terribly here, but nothing too outstanding either. Abv% is fine for the style, well-hidden, and outstandingly low (by American standards, eh?), but there just isn't enough going on here to keep me too interested for too long. That being said, it is a very easy-going, drinkable beer ... just not one I'd go back to often.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2008 02:41:19 | More by CrellMoset

beerthulhu

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: Poured a dark chestnut brown (ruby-marzen when held up to the light) with a 1 finger soapy khaki colored head that quickly dissipated to a bare surface with no visible lacing.

S: fair and moderate in strength with apple skins, dried oranges, an alcohol spiciness (cinnamon) and dried fruitcake. There was some light fresh coffee scents as well.

T: spicy caramel and cola, with a ripe fruitiness of prunes. Light rum raisins, dark sweet caramel and dried fruit cake with some alcohol fusels are also well noted. There is also light smoky peat, and fresh coffee that linger about contributing to the flavor.

M: very smooth, with a light-medium viscosity while it left a warm and spicy cinnamon/cola nuttiness fade on the tongue.

D: Overall a touch dark for a summer beer. Drinks much bigger then its advertised 4.2% abv and was fairly big on flavor though not one I would care to sit and drink in numbers.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2008 23:18:00 | More by beerthulhu

deltatauhobbit

Maine

3.48/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours a brown color with some amber hues, good sized head that fades to leave a little bit of lacing.

Smell is primarily caramel malt, slight nuttiness to it as well.

Taste is very similar to how it smells, pretty much all roasted malt, seems a bit thin, low carbonation, incredibly dry aftertaste which isn't all that pleasant for this beer. Another Odd Notion letdown.

Serving type: bottle

09-16-2008 22:52:57 | More by deltatauhobbit

soupyman10

District of Columbia

3.4/5  rDev -4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I've been consistently unimpressed with Magic Hat beers, despite for some reason being a fan when I started by craft-adventure. This, again, is quite mediocre. Brown beer with a weak head and no lacing. Nose is subtle malt, a touch of spice. Flavor is similar, grainy and mostly uninteresting with malt and no real hop presence. Mostly, I'm just bored. Why drink this?

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2008 02:03:31 | More by soupyman10

currysage1

Maine

3.28/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a nice clear, stained mahogany. Little head that crackles down to faint patchwork, seems very effervescent.

Smell is of sweet malts with a birch beer sort of side to it. Mild hop tickle in the nose but nothing too much.

Taste is a definate dry chocolate leading directly into a short coffee burst. Some good smoked malt in there, hops are slightly citrusy. Somewhat acidic, but not overwhelming. Very thin for an ale such as this, carbonation is too forceful as well.

I don't mind this for summer but have many others I would frequent much sooner.

Serving type: bottle

08-23-2008 06:26:06 | More by currysage1

BeerCon5

Pennsylvania

3.03/5  rDev -14.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a clear, dark amber color with a thin layer of light beige head.

The scent is of toasty grains, with some caramel notes.

The taste consists of toasty grains, some chocolate, and a bit nutty.

Light-bodied, very thin and a bit watery, light prickly carbonation.

Very easy to drink as well as interesting, but I just didn't really enjoy this beer. It just seemed too watery.

Serving type: bottle

08-19-2008 15:07:10 | More by BeerCon5

TheMistler

District of Columbia

3.58/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Bought a Magic Hat variety pack (the Magic Show!) mostly so I would not feel any pressure to review a beer while I was surrounded by non beer-aficionados. I had forgotten about the Odd Notion inclusions. So this is poured into a pint glass with no knowledge of what the style is. It poured almost like a cola. In fact it looked like a coke in the glass. Some residual head sticks around to the top of the beer, but there was little lacing.

It smells of an amber or red ale. Just a slight hint of hoppiness. Mostly a malty aroma, with sugar and roasted nuts. Toffee Some hops finish it off but they are few and far between, so far as aroma. Aroma addendum: I could swear that I detected some hefeweizen-like banana sweetness after this ale had warmed up a bit.

A carbonation crispness was what I first noticed, with the taste arriving with a light caramel flavor. Some malty fruity sweetness, some of which I would identify as a raisin flavor. Also, after it warmed up a bit, some banana-ness. An aftertaste that is oddly and disappointingly rubbery.

Serving type: bottle

08-17-2008 06:05:03 | More by TheMistler

Rudgers73

New York

3.65/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured into my Rare Vos glass. Deep reddish brown in color with a light tan head that settles to a gray ring around the top of the beer. Light to medium carbonation. It smells of roasted grain, caramel, nuts, and dishcloth. The taste is really mild with a light CO2 taste at the start. It opens up to a nice nutty flavor that is sweet, almost tart to start, then it moves into a very light English hop spin. Interesting flavor profile. This is a very English tasting beer. I would like to try it cask sometime.

Serving type: bottle

08-14-2008 22:09:31 | More by Rudgers73

auxiliary

Rhode Island

3.48/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

appearance - Amber brown color, small offwhite head that left some lace on the glass.

smell - Roasted malts, spice and some hops.

taste - Balance of malts up fronts and some hops present on the finish.

mouthfeel - Medium body.

drinkability - Interesting beer, wasn't that bad, worht a try.

Serving type: bottle

08-11-2008 03:36:08 | More by auxiliary

Drew966

Florida

3.63/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Odd Notion (Summer 08) pours a medium to dark brown with an off white head from a brown twelve ounce bottle. The aroma is pretty mild, some toasted malt, maybe a bit of caramel. The flavor is understated but quite decent, more malty than hoppy, but there is a nice hop flavor in the finish that balances this beer well. I had no idea what style this was when I was drinking it, I've had limited exposure to milds. Quite sessionable, not bad.

Serving type: bottle

08-07-2008 23:47:13 | More by Drew966

clayrock81

Virginia

3.65/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured a seethru colaesque brown with soda like carbonation; a one-finger head that died quickly and didn't leave much lacings. A thick, caramel malt smell hit me first along with other malts such as coffee, roasted and a hint of chocolate.
A light to medium body with the coffee and caramel malt coming into their own for taste. The beer is smooth and contains an almost slick but semi-dry backbite with some crispness on the tongue. Also very light hop presence noticeable as it passes tongue. A good seasonal that is a step in a different direction for a summer seasonal; I've never had a dark mild ale and while I can't say it is my fave this beer did get me interested in them.

Serving type: bottle

08-04-2008 17:55:30 | More by clayrock81