Vinyl - Magic Hat Brewing Company

mikesgroove

South Carolina

4/5  rDev +18%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The other new Magic Hat I ran into. I wasnt sure what to make out of it at first, but turns out to be very nice in the end. Served cold and poured into a pint glass, this one was consumed on 02/13/2010.

The pour was nicely done, dark orange in color with a good clarity and a nice and tight head of white on top of the glass. Faded smooth and left a tiny but broken head across the top of the glass. Aroma is caramel malts and rich earthy hops, Very green it comes across. Nice and smooth and even as it warms it maintains its richenss. Nice caramel flavor washes across the tongue, followed by a healthy dose of grain and a nice and well rounded feel. Smooth, lightly dry finish smacks of grass and bready malts before it falls down and leaves you looking for more.

Overall this was very solid, a very intresting and very drinkable amber. There are doing good things with these seasonals for sure.

Serving type: bottle

02-14-2010 18:27:37 | More by mikesgroove

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

4.15/5  rDev +22.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

16 ounce pint - $5.25 at Taco Mac in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Appearance: Served up a lightly hazed, dark amber-hued body underneath a very thin coating of off-white fizz.

Smell: Invitingly sweet-scented nose of toasted bread crusts doubly dunked in wildflower honey and sticky, viscous caramel sauce. Touch of background fruitiness.

Taste: A sweetish taste of pale and richly toasty Munich malts with a fair amount of both sugary caramel and quality honey. Slight fruitiness, perhaps a bit berryish, even strawberryish. Hint of yeastiness. Very, very low amount of earthy hop character though almost no imparted bitterness, so, that'll leave this beer to finish nearly as sweet as it started, with a lingering taste of sugar-encrusted toast.

Mouthfeel: Just barely comes up medium-bodied. Medium carbonation.

Drinkability: Not bad, not bad at all. An easy drinking, malt-forward brew with a reasonable amount of alcohol. Sure, it may not be a strictly authentic Vienna, but, then again, I don't see where MH is making any such claims beyond it simply being an amber lager.

Serving type: on-tap

03-01-2010 21:16:05 | More by ChainGangGuy

brentk56

North Carolina

3.1/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Appearance: Pours a clear amber color with a nice head; better retention and lacing than expected

Smell: Toasted bread with a bit of sugary malt

Taste: Bready, up front, with a sugary malt character that builds to toffee through the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate carbonation

Overall: For those who don't like any "bite" to their beer, this should prove to be popular; sweet and very approachable, just not for me

Serving type: bottle

04-06-2012 23:24:13 | More by brentk56

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

3.43/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Bottle: Poured a medium brown color beer with a large enough head with Ok retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of caramel malt is more dominant that I would have expected. Taste is also dominated by caramel malt with some balanced sweetness. Body is fuller then anticipated with good carbonation. There is nothing to write home about but well made and quite enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

08-19-2010 16:02:47 | More by Phyl21ca

BEERchitect

Kentucky

3.08/5  rDev -9.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Like many Magic Hat beers, Vinyl follows suit with high sweetness and fruitiness.

The beer begins with a standard amber color, moderate on head formation, fleeting retention, and slight lacing at first. A better head with staying power would have been nice, but the beer takes on a flat appearance within a minute or so.

Sweet aromas of caramel and toffee. Fruitiness of appricots, apples, peaches, and pears line the beer from beginning to end. Light herbal hops seem to take an English earthy tone. Pretty simple, just sweet.

Flavors amplify the sweetness that is expected in the nose. Overly sugar notes resemble caramel but not the rich malts that I want in a Vienna. Lacking breadiness, richness, and fullness the beer drinks much like a caramel flavored soda pop. But there's the intense bitterness that comes in late; not much hop flavor but big on bitter (especially for a lightly bitter balanced Vienna Lager style).

Body is medium, seemingly larger because of the level of sweetness from unresolved sugars and abuse of caramel malts. Leaves a lot of sweetness on the palate without any resemblence of dryness.

Not a bad beer but it lacks several of the key characteristics that make true Vienna Lagers so great. I'm a little disapointed by the shortcuts.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2010 20:24:13 | More by BEERchitect

oberon

North Carolina

3.7/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap at the Mellow in Greensboro.An impressive pour from the tap,a slight hazed amber hued brew with a large,craterous, slight off white head that settled very slowly.A mix of toasted malt and caramel in the nose,nice but would have liked a little hop zip.Flavors were alot like the aromas,toasty with a bit of caramel and anise,if there there would have been some hop imparted sharpness in the finish it would have been great,as is pretty good.A decent stab at the style,has flavor...but could have more.

Serving type: on-tap

02-19-2010 21:39:56 | More by oberon

WesWes

New York

3.48/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

The beer pours an amber/red color with a thick frothy off-white head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is decent. It has a nice roasted, caramel scent along with a dry fruitiness. The taste is decent as well. It has a moderately bitter hop character along with an overly sweet caramel malt flavor. It goes down smooth with some light roasted notes. The mouthfeel is average. It is a medium/full bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a nice attempt at an amber lager, except that it's too sweet for the style. A little less caramel malt and this beer is right in the front row.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2010 00:31:34 | More by WesWes

Mora2000

Texas

3.5/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to mar for sharing this beer.

The beer pours an orange-brown color with a white head. The aroma is basic malt with some light hopping. The flavor is toffee and bready malts with some very light hops. A relatively nice lager. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

03-19-2010 22:39:51 | More by Mora2000

zeff80

Missouri

3.75/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Poured out a clear, copper color with a small, tan head of foam. The head was short-lived and left no lacing.

S - It smelled of bready malt and caramel. Not much else.

T - Tasted of sweet breads with caramel and a nice spicy hop bite.

M - It was smooth and a little creamy. A medium bodied ale with a dry finish.

D - This is a pretty nice amber lager. It really surprised me.

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2011 03:37:08 | More by zeff80

metter98

New York

3.5/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: The beer is clear reddish copper in color and has a moderate amount of carbonation. It poured with a finger high dense beige head that died down, but consistently left a thin layer of bubbles covering the surface, a thick creamy ring of bubbles around the edge and lacing down the sides of the glass.
S: There are light to moderately strong aromas of grainy and nutty malts in the nose.
T: The taste is similar to the smell and also has some flavors of toasted malts and wood. No bitterness or malty sweetness is detectable.
M: It feels medium-bodied and a bit smooth on the palate with a moderate to high amount of carbonation.
O: This beer is quite malty but it isn’t that filling and is relatively easy to drink.

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2012 00:02:45 | More by metter98

TheManiacalOne

Rhode Island

3.9/5  rDev +15%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On-tap 1/27/2010 at Doherty's East Ave Irish Pub in Pawtucket, RI, served in a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a light coppery brown color, with a short off-white head that fades slowly and leaves a thick lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is of caramelized malts, lager yeast, some hops and some citrus.

T: The taste starts out a little sweet with flavors of caramel & citrus. Then some lager yeast breadiness and a hearty malt character come in. There's a decent hops presence that brings a good balance. The after-taste is slightly sweet.

M: Smooth and crisp, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is clean.

D: Tasty, goes down easily, not too filling, mild kick, decent representation of style, this is a solid sessionable beer with some flavor and substance making it worth drinking for a while.

Serving type: bottle

01-29-2010 21:26:23 | More by TheManiacalOne

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

3.03/5  rDev -10.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Got a bottle right after it's first release into the area here. The beer was a deep golden color with a fizzy white head on it. The smell was of some typical grains and had a little bit of a lager aroma going on. The taste of the beer isn't all to impressive. It's got some grainy malts on the foreground and some hops in the back. The mouthfeel is light and doesn't really do too much. Overall, the artwork for magic hat is always awesome the beer itself kind of fell short of my expectations.

Serving type: bottle

06-25-2011 18:06:30 | More by Knapp85

Gavage

New Jersey

3.68/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: pours a slightl hazy dark orange color with a 2" head that lasts a while.

Smell: fruity sweetness and a mild floral bitterness are most notable here.

Taste: plum and apple fruit sweetness, floral hops, bready malt, and a touch of earthiness are the main flavors.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied beer. Lightly crisp from start to finish. Short lived aftertaste here.

Drinkability: not a bad drinking beer, but it is a bit sweet and not in the refreshing category as I expected.

Serving type: bottle

02-20-2011 19:37:08 | More by Gavage

jwc215

New Jersey

3.48/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours hazed dark copperish amber with a thin head that fades away. Vanishing dotted lace temporarily sticks.

The smell is of a caramelish graininess, with some earthy and fruity (berry-like) notes. Yeasty - not quite as clean as expected from a lager.

The taste is of caramel, towards toffee, with yeast, and an apricot-ish and berry-like fruitiness. It has a mildly yeasty, dry finish.

It is smooth with medium carbonation and a light-to-medium body.

A bit too "yeasty"...could be cleaner, but an interesting lager, nevertheless. Pretty easy to drink. I preferred the Participation Lager...

Serving type: bottle

02-24-2010 00:15:57 | More by jwc215

tempest

Pennsylvania

3.9/5  rDev +15%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Had a bottle for $3.50 at Liberty St. Tavern. Call it an American red if you want, I think Magic Hat is correct in calling this a Vienna Lager. The flavor starts with a smooth white bread taste followed by toffee and cherry candy, though it's not too sweet. The beer is balanced, drinkable, and has a mild herbal character. I thought this was a mighty fine lager and I wish Magic Hat sold this by the case.

Serving type: bottle

03-18-2010 14:41:43 | More by tempest

WVbeergeek

Ohio

4/5  rDev +18%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appears a deep amber hue almost light brownish color with a nice off white head. The head forms even lacing all down the sides of my glass as it dwindles. Aroma has a nice dark roasted nutty character going on with a low roaring herbal hop note. A clean nutty roasted brown ale like scent that actually works quite well for an Amber or Vienna style lager. Flavor is nice straight forward no surprises easy drinking lager, a slightly more roastier malt presence than expected by the color. Roasted nuts, caramel, and cereal grains fulfill my flavor profile on the palate, the low end Northern Brewer hops work just in balancing but no much in flavor a quaint herbal finish. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied overall moderate easy going carbonation works just the way it should. Drinkability is dead on classic for the sytle a beer that I really enjoyed imbibing and quite the nice change of pace from the typical seasonal or special release from Magic Hat.

Serving type: bottle

01-26-2010 01:20:33 | More by WVbeergeek

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.95/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Modest head, but it recedes in a rocky fashion. Deep copper color; very clear. Some ring lace.

Lots of caramel aroma; light alcohol in the background. No notable hop (good for a marzen).

Far drier than the smell lets on. Also, this features a good hop finish. The body is typical of the style, which is to say it's lighter than an equivalently colored ale. The aftertaste is well-balanced, while the sipping flavor is lightly toasted malt, similar to "red" beers. Overall, a very pleasant and easy-to-drink brew.

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2010 18:51:00 | More by smcolw

jdhilt

New Hampshire

3.38/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a four finger cream head that fades slowly to a thin layer, leaving some lace. Almost clear amber/red color. Toasted malt nose. Light-medium carbonation and medium bodied. Flavor is lightly sweet malt with the hops balancing and a light bitter finish. $1.95 for a 12oz bottle from Barb's Beer Emporium, Concord, NH.

Serving type: bottle

03-14-2010 22:30:40 | More by jdhilt

Billolick

New York

3.78/5  rDev +11.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Large bottle, pours murky, soft medium brown, non exciting light khaki head, leaves a thin collar, some slippery blots of lace and not much else. Nose to me is also pretty tame, with just some dusty malts. Tasty enough lager, has a respectable malty depth to it. Smooth and quite easy drining. Work work fine as a sessioner or with burgers and sandwedges. Nothing special, just a decent and affordable everyday kinda brew.

Serving type: bottle

02-23-2010 00:12:07 | More by Billolick

mdfb79

New York

2.98/5  rDev -12.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

From 06/11/11 notes. Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass.

a - Pours a nice amber color with one inch of white head that quickly leaves and moderate to high carbonation evident.

s - Smells of bready malts, caramel malts, and toasted malts. Not bad, but pretty average. A little bit bland.

t - Tastes of caramel malts, toasted malts, bready malts, and light fruit. A step up from the nose.

m - Light to medium body and moderate to high carbonation.

o - Overall a pretty average red ale. Not awful or offensive, but kind of average and bland. Not something to seek out but worth giving a shot and better than some.

Serving type: bottle

06-16-2011 02:35:40 | More by mdfb79

jlindros

Massachusetts

3.4/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: Huge rising head that slowly fades over a very clear darker honey molasses brown with hints of cranberry red color.

N: Nose has some sweet malts with some toasty malts as well, a slight crisp creamy lager aroma too.

T: Taste is pretty sweet with lots of honey, malts, a touch of darker malts, a little caramel, a slight toasty lager malt flavor, slight roasted porter taste.

M: Lighter with decent carbonation.

F: A little bitter and dries off a bit but still has some lingering syrupy sweetness that seems to be stuck to the mouth now. Too sweet overall.

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2010 17:57:57 | More by jlindros

weeare138

Pennsylvania

3.13/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Appears a light, semi-transparent amber with a fluffy, off white head that slowly fades into a gentle cap. Scattered bits of lacing are left around the glass.
Smell is of toastd malt, freshly baked bread, mild bits of caramel, and ripe fruit.
Taste is of the aromas with a yeasty, mildly earthy flavor that toes the line of freshly roasted peanuts.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied, spritzy with CO2 up front, with a sweet finish.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2010 14:35:25 | More by weeare138

Bighuge

Minnesota

3.68/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Glowing and hazy scarlet red amber body. Tightly packed light beige head. Lacing comes in moderate amounts of rings. Nice malty aroma. Some dusty caramel tones and a little biscuit. Smooth caramel maltiness on the buds with a little vienna like character showing through. Hops merely balance. Body is medium to medium-full. Lightly carbonated. Decent enough.

Serving type: bottle

03-03-2010 22:43:26 | More by Bighuge

corby112

Pennsylvania

1.75/5  rDev -48.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5

Bomber purchased at Vingo's in Whiting, NJ.

Pours a very dark amber, almost chesnut brown color with dark golden burnt orange hues when held to a light source and a two finger frothy off-white head. Excellent retention only slowly fading into a lasting ring that leaves chunks of soapy lacing behind.

Toasty caramel malt aroma with hints of biscuit and toffee as well as a pungent earthy hop character. The hop presence in the nose is very earthy and almost smells like soil/dirt. There is also a slight metallic character that isn't very appealing.

Medium bodied with a dry piney hop presence that lingers troughout over a slightly yeast, grainy and metallic malt backbone into a very earthy long dry finish. Hints of sweet corn, solvent and grain and the hop finish is very dirty/soil like. This tastes pretty much like an unpleasantly hoppy adjunct lager. Avoid.

Serving type: bottle

06-05-2010 02:44:25 | More by corby112

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

3.4/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

First had: on tap at Casey's, Newtown Square, PA

A basic but tasty lager. Poured a hazy amber with a thin white head that becomes a layer of spotty bubble patches. Simple caramel malts in the nose, with a touch of fruitiness. A bit bready, with clean, slightly roasted malts in the taste, and a fruit sweetness, balanced by light floral hops. Crisp and clean, light-medium mouthfeel, and decent to drink even if it's not overly distinctive.

Serving type: on-tap

05-14-2011 17:46:45 | More by Rifugium