Magic Hat Chaotic Chemistry

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

EBF NOTB. There was just an absurd amount of bourbon in the aroma for this one. I found it distasteful. The flavor has a little czech hops, but I can’t taste much beyond the bourbon.

16.9 oz bottle, snifter. Cookie, caramel, molasses malt (M); flower and herb hops (L); soap and earthy yeast (M); red grapes, pead, cask wood and vanilla aromas. Pours with almost no head. Heavily particulate, dark red-orange body. Moderately sweet, lightly acidic flavor becomes a moderately sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter, long finish. Medium body, watery/oily texture, flat carbonation. The bottom line is: ugh...I dislike American whisky and there’s a ton of American oak present in this. Lots of cedar too.

Rich golden amber. Lightly boozy aroma, touch of dusty hops, bit of maple syrup. Harshly alcoholic flavor, slick on the tongue, rather light bodied. 10.8 % alcohol? tastes like twice that. Not a lot of reward for braving the burning alcohol.

WCCII courtesy of Tidiaguy- thanks Mike. Pours a royal orange amber clear with a small cream head. Intruiguing tropical fruity, plasticky, rosewater and alcohol aroma. Relatively soft dry woody vinous alcohol palate and flavours. Relatively low malt character for a barley wine. Dry fortified white wine finish. Nice.

Hand bottled on 11-13-02, Bottle 394, Batch 1: Ive been waiting to rate this, as I figured a year would mellow it out, cuz last year it wass all sour alcohol. Pours a fire ruby orange. Port, orange, honey, cherry, bourbon nose. Fluffy sticky off white head. Sour, woody, very sweet, you can definately taste the wood, fermented orange, slightly syrupy body, finishing with a lingering sourness. this smelled and looked great, but didnt follow through palate wise.

Shared by puddintane. Lots of honey in the aroma with some wood--very mead like. Almost black body with no head. Full palate. Strong malt flavor, boozy tastes with some honey and oak again. Interesting.

Batch 2, bottle 1240. This bottle was a pain to open... the cork split in half, leading it to become a two corkscrew job. Eventually the beer is unleashed. Poured an effervescent deep amber with a semi-creamy off-white head which lasted. Nice aroma of cream, fruit, citrus, a touch of alcohol. Taste is less assertive than the aroma. Somewhat fruity, grassy hops, some saltiness, a bit of retronasal alcohol. Very dry finish. Drinkable... not as sweet as I would like.

’04 Bottle shared by Indra at his tasting 12/7/07. This was one of the cooler looking bottles that I’ve seen: painted black with a silk screened, golden lemniscate ouroboros (see photo above). Unfortunately the beer contained within turned out to be less impressive. While it wasn’t bad, I think that all three of us that remained to share it were hoping for a little "more". It pours a deep, reddish blush with a tiny, creamy, off-white skin at the surface. It had none of the large billowy head that I associate with barley wines. The nose was floral with a big malt backing and notes of pear and light bourbon. Light to medium-bodied and slick it concluded with a quick, dry finish; a bit unusual for the style. The flavor was fairly bourbon forward, sweet and fruity with a malty brown sugar body that finishes lightly woody. Not a bad beer, but far from being a great barley wine. I am glad, however, to have gotten a chance to try this one. Thank you for sharing this with us, Eric!