Magic Hat Brewing Number 9 Not Quite Pale Ale

Magic Hat Brewing Number 9 Not Quite Pale Ale

Style: Pale Ale

Alcohol Content: 5.1%

From: Burlington, Vermont, United States 

Purchased from: Rays Wines, Ashford
http://www.magichat.net/

Magic Hat Brewing Company was formed in 1994 in Burlington, Vermont. It moved to its current South Burlington location in 1997. By 2005 it had 64 employees. In 2008 the company purchased Pyramid Breweries, makers of the Pyramid and MacTarnahan's brands, expanding to 129 employees. In 2010 Magic Hat (including Pyramid) was acquired by North American Breweries of Rochester, New York. In December 2012, the parent company was purchased by Cerveceria Costa Rica, a unit of the Costa Rican company Florida Ice & Farm Co.

Magic hat describes this beer in the following way; "A beer cloaked in secrecy. An ale whose mysterious and usual palate will swirl across your tongue and ask more questions than it answers". Has this brewery come over all Harry Potter on us or is this beer a hidden gem? Well let's find out. Expelliarmus!!!!

The Hypnotic Label of Number 9

Colour: Once in the glass, you will notice that this beer does not look like the typical pale ale. It has a light copper colour with a reddish hue. It remind me of a lighter Meantime Yakima Red. The head is very small and it literally disappears in seconds after it's poured.

Aroma: Full of crunchy biscuits, pine needles and apricot notes. The aromas from this beer are quite faint and feel rather watered down and restrained (which is a shame).

Body: Quite light and extremely refreshing due to the taste (you will read about that below). A little thin in the mouth due to the low level of carbonation and the it's slightly watery consistency. The pale and crystal malts used to create this brew unfortunately do not add to much to the body.

Taste: This is where this drink comes into its own. It is completely different from any pale ale that you will ever try. Big ballsy raspberry or strawberry notes present themselves on the first sip. The drink is also quite sweet and there are no hints of tartness from the berries. As the drink warms, rich pumpkin and tangerine notes begin to present themselves. These fruity notes are juxtaposed by a mild bitter finish which holds the drink together perfectly.

Truly Magically

Similar To: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/meantime-raspberry-wheat.html
Different To: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/partizan-brewing-ipa-bobek-amarillo.html

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Moor Beer Company Merlin Magic

Moor Beer Company Merlin Magic

Style: Bitter

Alcohol content: 4.5%

From: Pitney, Somerset, England

Purchased from: Cost cutters

As you may be aware from reading my previous blogs, i am a big fan of the West county. My father grew up not far from Yeovil, so the culture and history of the glorious west has always been in my blood. So any time i get a chance to review a beer from there, i literally jump at the chance!

The Moor Beer Company was formed in 1996 on a small dairy farm in Somerset. They originality started brewing beers that matched the local heritage of Somerset, but soon branched out upon the arrival of Justin and Maryann Hawke. Justin is a Californian native, and brought with him a tendency of fusing real ales with more more aggressively flavored beers from the United States. This has lead to an amazingly diverse range of mind boggling creations. As i always say, change is a good thing and i can not wait to try this brew. Perhaps their most famous beer is Old Freddy Walker which won Champion Winter Beer of Britain 2004.

Colour: Light brown. This is quite pale for a bitter, as I would normally associate this style with a dark brown colouration. On the second pour the beer is more cloudy.

Smell: On the pour you a bombarded with a smell of sweet hops. This come from the Marynka and Hallertauer Northern Brewer Hops that are used in this beer. These hops add earthy/floral tones, which are smells you would normally associate with a IPA rather than a Bitter.This is going to be very interesting! If you compare it to a IPA, it would smell a bit Green King IPA with a flower bouquet in its pocket.

Body: For a bitter this beer is actually quite light. As you drink, the head stays with you all the way down. This actually adds to the drinking experience by cleansing your nose on every sip. As you can see from the pictures, the people at Moor's give you quite a large bottle to try. This means that you get maybe a pint and a half out of each bottle. Whilst pouring the second glass i noticed that the colour and body changed. The beer took on a more cloudy body which one would normally associate with a Weiss beer. I believe that this was caused by the bottle conditioning of the beer. The yeast must of settled at the bottom of the bottle which lead to the clouding. I would quite happily have a couple of these down the pub whilst reading a newspaper.

Taste: On my first sip i was a very confused man. Is this a bitter or is this a IPA. This has to be the most confusing beer that i have ever drunk.It refreshes your palate with tastes of lime and elderflower.After you swallow you are left with a creamy/ chewy caramel taste in your mouth. Very rich and very refreshing.

Pure Magic!

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