Magic Hat #9

Brewed by Magic Hat Brewing Company
Style: Fruit Beer
South Burlington, Vermont USA

Serve in Flute, Shaker

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thin head over a light amber coloring. smells like a garbage container and it tastes like a licking a dirty ashtray filled with water.

Strong apricot aroma and flavour. Thin white fully diminishing head on hazy straw body. Medium body. I find the fruit flavour to be artificial and cloyingly sweet. Although I do generally like the output of this brewery, I'm not a big fan of this offering. On tap at the brewey and bottled.

Bottle: Impossible to describe!? There are at least 477 ratings that say otherwise. Overall: plain, simple, some fruity taste. That´s it.

Pale gold pour with a thin white head. Usually, anything that looks like this is a blueprint for disaster. Apricot and yeast on the nose with hints of a citrusy wheat. Flavor is similar up front. Crisp, sweet, fruity and semi-citrusy with a wheat-like characteristic. About midway through it seems to shift over to something similar in flavor and finish to a pale ale, but not quite. It leaves an odd unappetizing hoppy, dirty sock, metallic flavor on the finish that unfortunately lingers a while. I don’t know what this is or what they wanted it to be. Maybe they’ll work out the kinks with #10.

Looks like apricot juice with a smallish white head. Hey it smells like apricots too! What do ya know, it tastes just like apricots! One dimensional and overall it’s simply boring. This lacks both freshness and depth.

Pale golden color with a light head. Aroma of peach, apricot and berries. Taste has some berry and summer fruit, but really tastes grainy and cheap. Drain pour. Magic Hat beers just always seem sloppy and in poor form to me. I would like to see something better from them.

on tap. small fizzy off-white head that dissapated quickly. aromas of passion fruit/apricot? (not good). flavor is moderately sweet throughout. moderate finish duration. overall not good.

ehh. another one i shouldve read before grabbing. unique at best, but very overpowering with the apricot. i dont know if that was the greatest choice to pair with a pale ale, but a good idea at the least. i just might not be a fan of apricot, and surely am not of #9. wouldn’t mind trying some other Magic Hats though.

UPDATED: JAN 27, 2011 Clear tan appearance. Berries present on the nose. Sweet initial that immediately fades to a bitter finish that dries you out. Not one to drink if you’re parched. 2.6
RE-RATE 1/27/11 Bottle from Central Market. The beer appears to be quite clear with lots of carbonation. The bubbles are unceasing from the bottom of the glass. It pours a light orange color that touches on copper, with a light white head.

The aroma has a big element of fruit, namely blueberries and raspberries. It also has a strong dry grain nose to it. Fairly straightforward after the fruit smell.

The flavor is also fruity, but very quickly turns to a dry bitter taste. It has a slight touch of metal that also lingers on. The fruit flavor is most definitely a blueberry type taste but it does not last long at all. The finish is by far the largest drawback as it tastes a bit of cardboard and oatmeal.

Pours amber with a big foamy off-white head. Nose is bittersweet fruit with a touch of floral hops. Taste is similar...the sharp, semi-bitter hops/fruit combination seems severely out of balance with a bland malt. A bit oily as well. I’m honestly not a fan of fruit beers and this one didn’t do anything to change that...it’s in need of a much bigger malt. Might be better as a double. Might.