Magic Hat Nerdlinger

Formerly brewed at Magic Hat Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Ale
South Burlington, Vermont USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Creamy white golden with a thin white head. Smooth coriander, thyme, and floral hops in aroma. In mouth, coriander, italian spices, c-hops, light citrus. Medium bodied, enticing. At EBF 2006. My Coup de Coeur with the Founders Kentucky!

Apricot fruitiness and peppery brett character offset the strong leafy, floral hop character and doughy cookie-like malts in the aroma. Opaque, cloudy, yellow-tan coloured body is crowned by a decent and lasting white head that retreats slowly to a lasting cover. Cookie dough and flowery perfume-like hops are joined by an orange-citrus, spicy character. Excellent balance between sweetness and funk with strong hop flavours and moderate bitterness adding the punctuation. Medium body is very dry and well-attenuated with fairly strong, lively carbonation that awakens the tastebuds. I can only hope that there will be a bottled version of this as I’d love to have a larger sample to explore at length. On tap at the Extreme Brewers Fest 2006.

Extreme cloudiness in the milky gold pour, covered by a delicate, lasting white ring. Biscuity, doughy, limey attacking wave is quickly followed by abounding leafy hops that cut into the bright, fresh, lively acidity in perfect cohesion, bringing us into a weirdly floral world of soapy, unclean flavours that complement each others. Well nuanced in the aromatic department, it is just as explosive in mouth where the enthusiast effervescence unveils a biting foam of dry liquid, very attenuated, sandy and with plenty of fruit attachments, notably a lively citrus range. Very good, a beer that evolves with you as you drink it and where yeast, hops and malt all serve as important a role as each others.

Draught at EBF ’06. Fully cloudy, light maize-to-pale-enamel colored body with a fair amount of white head, well-retained without much lacing. The nose quickly describes a brett-laced jaunt through a field. Light grassiness, very slight dough and bits of soft herbs and mild earthiness from the wood. A soft vanilla blossom note is most inviting as well, with an almost oatmeal like smoothness. Very subtle, but I, unfortunately, miss the greater portion of the Styrian Goldings, only getting a bit of dusty herbs and grass, no full on lilac. The flavor shows less brett than most other American examples, but still manages a bit of tartness through the middle. Grows dry and lactic on the end, with a touch of nectarines and peach skin, but quickly being overcome by a pale malt texture that is actually fairly drying, adding only touches of light sugars. I get more of the oaty, creamy smooth notes on the finish, probably the very light lactic quality again, with just a shade of banana and lemon peel. Very low carbonation, supple, lightly tannic body at times is dry, smooth and lightly creamy, though, importantly, not creamy-sweet. If the sheer breathtaking finesse of Russian River and Pizza Port’s brett beers leave this in the shadows, it is nonetheless a very well-constructed beer. It is no small task to make a near-flawless brett beer. No alcohol apparency, a bit too much yeast dryness/blandness builds on the palate on the end, however. Definitely needs more malt complexity, it is very lean in that regard.

Sample at EBF 2006. Thickly hazy light amber, murky-dirty-yeasty with a lasting bit of creamy head and nice lacing, gorgeous...funky-yeasty, brett-influenced dry-herbal aromas, touches of vanilla and long-dried wood as well...surprisingly smooth, easygoing initial character quickly overtaken by spicy yeast and fruity flavors, mango and banana among them...bit of tart, citrusy acidity near the finish. Very nearly entrancing and one of my top 5 of this very excellent fest.

EBF 06. A hazy orange color with a soft white fluffy head. Nose is light funk, some yeast, grass and citrus fruit notes. Taste is a nice light sour, some of the belgian brett funk and freshness, light oranges and berry flavors. A lightly playful palate and a smooth finish.

Any first impressions?
-A creamy head bobs atop beige turbidity.
-The bright fruitiness of gooseberries and tropical fruit is emboldened by brilliant funky wilderness.
-The aroma’s funkified fruitiness is definitely there for the long run, but is somewhat bothered by the ample whirling yeast.
-The prickly, tiny-bubbled effervescence could relax a bit.

What if you dig deeper?
-Pineapples and coconuts take form to soon morph into bananas and lactic notes.
-Very flavorful, but flavors seem to lack cohesion before it officially reaches stardom in the wild ale category.
-Maybe too young for now, but a fine frame of funk will let it develop beautifully I’m sure.

Sampled at Extreme Beer Fest ’06.