Magic Hat Chaotic Chemistry

Brewed by Magic Hat Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
South Burlington, Vermont USA

great white thick head. dark orangish clear color. smooth and fruity flavor up front (cherry, pineapple, slightly sour) balanced by woodiness and vanilla. finishes bitter, dry, crisp. interesting beer.

In short: Weird ultra-sweet dill/caramel/maple syrup mixture. Not for me.
How: Montreal-crew sour-beer tasting (break between two styles). 1L growler from Goldorak, fresh 2007 batch.
The look: Cloudy amber body topped by a little beige ring.
In long: Nose is like a typical barley wine with added maple syrup and a lot of dry woody barrel. Taste is off, way off. I was trying to figure it out when Goldorak said “dill”. Right on! I’ll even go a step further and say that to me this tasted like dill pickles wrapped in a thick caramel coasting and maple syrup poured on top. Overly sweet. Barrel doesn’t show much in the taste but there’s some dry tree leaves/branches probably coming from the leaves. Alcohol is not well hidden at all. Man that was just not right. The Chemistry part definitely needs some work. But the Chaotic par, oh man, they really nailed that one right.

Bottle sampled. batch 449 11-1-04 3 bottle Pours a mahogany color with a beigh head. Aroma of caramel malts, brown sugar, vanilla, wood, and bourbon notes. Flavor is smooth and complex with bourbon, oak, caramel malts, and dark fruit sweetness with a nice warming alcohol finish. awesome

Tap at Max’s. Cloudy dark amber with a small beige head. Moderately sweet and vinous nose with cherries, caramel and bourbon. The flavor is moderately sweet, lightly tart with cherry, plum skins, toffee and pine. Full sticky, chewy body with moderate carbonation and a warm finish. Coming from Magic Hat, this wasn’t so bad.

Tap at Max’s on Broadway. Opaque, chesnut colored pour. A truly bizarre amalgam of aromatic elements: watermelon, hair spray and oxidized port, succeeded in awkward ad extra by salted hazelnut, cider, prominent vinegar, and an afterthought of chocolate. Incomprehensibly, it’s all there. Taste is a powerful, brash foray into the irrationality of youth in this style; cantaloupe, apple shampoo, sweet toffee syrup. Alcoholic and boorish, with a kind of overbearing caramel and rum sweetness beside the nail polish effect. Salty, and woodsy. Syrupy palate with a nagging, thorough heat. Finish of fruit liqueur in a predictable and long-lasting flourish. The definitively young and hopelessly messy barleywine.

Bottle. Nose-watered down cola, soy, maple. Taste-maple, medium, sweetness, medium alcohol, light soy, sweet fig, raisin, medium to high sweetness, brown sugar, light bitter on the back end. Brings the maple and dark fruit sweetness together very well. Dry sherry, sweet port, grapey, dry chocolate powder, Dr. Pepper.

Date: 01/10/2004
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

clear light amber, whispy head, light sweet alcoholic aroma with a touch of fruity character, winey vinager flavor, lots of sourness, bad sample?

Aroma: 4/10; Appearance: 3/10; Flavor: 1/10; Palate: 1/10; Overall: 3/20
Rating: 1.1/5.0
Score: -/4
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(750ml bottle, 2004 vintage, Batch 3, #519) Pours a mahogany body with a spare beige head. Aroma of prunes, paint thinner, breadiness, oak, and port. Flavor of soy sauce, dark fruit, maple syrup, spices, and a bit of ice cider in the finish.