Magic Hat Lucky Kat

pretty good ipa. nothing earth shattering here, but im usually not a big fan of magic hat.

Bottle at Capital Ale House - Downtown on 03/09/2009. Slightly hazy orange amber body with a medium frothy off-white head. Fruity caramel aroma with a slight metallic twang. Dry fruity and grassy hop flavor on a caramel background and more slight metallic notes. Medium body with moderately high carbonation.

From bottle. Golden color. Pretty hoppy aroma but definitely not overpowering. Citrus, as expected, but it’s light. Can pick up some bready sweetness as well. It’s a fairly full beer for an IPA. More malt up front than I’d expected with some undertones of vanilla. Interestingly, despite being a style not especially known for sweetness on the finish, it’s definitely here. Caramel. Overall it’s an alright IPA for someone like me who doesn’t especially love the style (which I frequently find to be unidimensional). That said, it’s not exactly the most complex beer but, all in all, it’s refreshing and for this it’s a keeper, especially at the price point.

From a bottle poured hazy dark golden color with a fair amount of head. Nice malty hoppy flavor with a quick finish.

12 oz bottle from the binnys singles rack (orland park, il). Pours a hazy fiery organish amber with moderate tannish yellow head that dissipates to a decent amount and laces a bit. Aromas are a touch skunky grain mixed with moderate hop bouquet with citrus, florals, and balanced by a smaller sweet carmel malt body. Initial is equally powerful on the malt, carmel malt sweetness mixes with lighter bitterness and florals, light citrus. A bit of a bland finish from a lack of a good enough bitterness. A bit too sweet for me. Carmel on the palate and slight floral bitterness. Grainy sweet bready finish with very light bitterness. Subtle bitter aftertaste with the sweetness. It looked quite nice, but didn’t hold up its end of the bargain.

Deep copper pour produces a large, off-white, creamy head which yields aroma of toasted malt with earthy/citrus hops. It would be interesting to see the hop schedule, result is unusual. Taste is solid toasty/caramel malt backbone, supporting a punch of the same earthy/citrus hops. Sweetness upfront with a dry finish. Solid brew, will buy again.

clear orange under a large off-white head. moderately strong floral hop aroma with some pink bubblegum. flavor isn’t anything to get excited about. not very robust. very carbonated and thin palate. tastes like it’s mixed with a bit of tonic water.