3 May 09Location: Rod and Jess' House
Indianapolis
On a mild summery afternoon we found ourselves once again at the home of Rodney and Jess, where another homebrew session was underway (a honey-wheat and the SS Minnow Mild Ale). While everyone else was patiently babysitting thermometers, I sat down with the laptop to take care of some leftover HBG homework.
A while back the folks at Magic Hat sent me a couple beers for review. Imagine my surprise when it happened a second time.
Magic Hat Wacko - Wacko is one of Magic Hat's summer seasonals, a 4.5% ABV brew with beet juice color. Why beet juice? I blame the city of South Burlington, VT, home of Magic Hat, and the beet juice capital of the Vermont/New Hampshire/Maine tri-state area1.
The beer is a fizzy, almost glowing, red colored thing, with a fruity malt nose, a fruity front that quickly fades to a dry finish. It drinks like a Kolsch, and meets all the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) guidelines for the style - apart from its wacky color. Light, malty, tight and summery. There's not a ton of flavor here, but this would make for a nice lawnmowing sort of beer - and agreeable for anyone from the craft beer rookie to the temperate beer geek.
Next up is the Magic Hat Odd Notion Summer 09. I gather from the previous sample that Magic Hat releases an Odd Notion beer for each season. The summer edition features a sweet sugary nose with a hint of creme corn, a fizzy clear golden color, light and sweet flavors of honey-wheat and lemon, and a little bit of sweet Belgian sugar. It's medium-bodied and not heavy - a nice summer Belgian.
One thing I want to note about Magic Hat's bottled offerings: the underside of each bottlecap features a fortune-cookie-like phrase that usually ranges from mildly entertaining to deeply profound and life altering2.
7 April 09
Location: Home
Sam Adams Imperial Series Imperial Stout - A deep dark black/brown body with a khaki-colored head leads to a sweet and smokey (almost pepperoni-like?3) nose. A mild roasty stout front gives way to a mild body and a slight alcohol bite. Interesting and worth a revisit.
12 April 09
Location: Rod and Jess'
Year+ Old Hitachino Espresso Stout - Bought at Parti-Pak over a year ago, first sampling now. Chocolaty brown color, with a foamy head around the edges. A big black coffee and chocolate nose leads to a surprisingly light front. The beer is chocolaty and a woody, with a lingering coffee finish in the roof of the mouth.
Magic Hat Lucky Kat IPA - Bought at Kroger! A clear copper body supports a fizzy body. Light and hoppy nose, light bitter front, even caramel backing. Finishes bitter but balanced and refreshing. A nice mild sessionable IPA.
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1 Everyone knows this.
2 I might be lying.
3 I was thinking Jack's (3 for $9.99 at Kroger) Frozen Pizza pepperoni to be specific.
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