Magic Hat Lucky Kat

Brewed by Magic Hat Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
South Burlington, Vermont USA

Nice beer, not imperial by any means. A slightly feminine label (a pink cheshire cat with the beer’s name in place of teeth) makes me think this is an IPA for a girl.

Aroma is a pretty good blend of hops and malt. Nothing special. Pours dark amber with white bubbly head. Hops are much more pronounced in the flavor. It is bitter, slightly metallic and a little flat.

Why do I keep buying beers that I know will not be any good. I bought a six at Kroger and I should have just gave it to a homeless man, or Ross. That would have served a greater purpose. Pours orange amber with a white head. Aroma of cheap beer and stale hops. Flavor is pretty much the same. This malt profile just screams of cheapness, countered by muted hops. IPA? More like a cheap pale ale. Next

Nice dark gold, large fluffy head. Fruity aroma. Peaches, grass, some bitter almonds. Bitter finish, but not of the kicking and screaming kind. Well balanced.

Deep Amber coloured body with some hazy orange highlights and a large tan head - this actually looks like a good IPA! Aroma of skunky malt, metal, blood, nuts and a tiny bit of hops, this one does NOT smell like an IPA or even a beer with a single dose of fresh hops. Medium-bodied; Sharp assertive metallic flavour up front with a tiny bit of hops, but mainly grapefruit and pine flavours - not reminiscent of hops. Aftertaste shows foul malt, skunky sugars and a tiny bit of hops. Overall, I kind of expected a bad beer - but this one was a little worse than expected. Definitely not recommended, unless you’d like to see a cheesy example of how not to make an IPA. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Chesapeak Gourmet in Queenstown, Maryland on 14-September-2008, sampled on 05-October-2008.

Bottle (12oz). Pours a slightly hazy, bubbly orange-amber with a large mostly-lasting foamy off-white head. Slightly mild aroma of resiny hops, citrus hops, caramel malt and some fruit. Flavour of resiny hops, a touch earthy and with caramel malt, nuts and a decently long bitter finish. Not quite as balanced as it should be, to me. Average to medium bodied. Nothing awesome or anything but it’s not bad at all, I could drink this.

Coppery red, foamy off-white head. Nutty, piney aroma. Flavor is a bit odd - walnuts and caramel, with only a relatively small hop bite. OK, I guess, not really something I’d drink a lot of.

12oz bottle. Ruby red with a rocky white head. Big hop aroma. Lots of florals and citrus. Deep cotton candy. Flavor is a bold malt followed by a sharp grapefruit bitterness. Slightly toasted flavor, very nice bitterness. Light - medium bodied. Great flavor although I would have liked a bit more body.