Magic Hat Odd Notion - Irish Red Ale (Spring 08)

Spring variety pack. Thin, and pretty weak on flavor. It didn’t jump out at me as an irish red at first. Just OK.

This really was an odd beer and didn’t resemble the irish red style at all. I really don’t think I would drink it again.

On tap. Pours a deep oak/brown color with a thin but persistent head. Spicy aroma with some hints of fruit. On first sip: the cardamom bursts through right away with some orange and other citrus right behind it. Because cardamom’s one of my favorite spices, I found the full effect to be wonderfully inspired. My only complaint: a bit thin mouthfeel. A fun beer with a bite.

Draught. Amber pour with tiny off white head. Aroma of straw and malt. Watery thin taste of caramel and spices with a slightly sweet spicy finish.

This beer is not very impressive. The flavors are plentiful, but they do not blend all that well. The finish is poor, and it seems to fall apart here, with a bad aftertaste.

12 ounce bottle from City Market in Burlington, VT (March 2008) sampled a little below cellar temperature from a Unibroue glass. A stable, persistent light tan head bubbles slowly atop the translucent dried-blood body....faintly spicy and malt-sweet on the nose, a bit of brown sugar-caramel and vanilla....the cardamom is actually much more noticeable on the palate, giving the flavor a strong spicy zest and much more interest than the typical Irish, and it is well complemented by a very full body and a moderate sweetness and light woody character throughout....finishes somewhat sharp and hard, dry; low to moderate carbonation. One of MH’s better recent efforts.

nice aroma- malts, hops, raisins, a hint of caramel. nice dark brown coloration with reddish tint. ok head, solid lacing. toasted malts, some hops, tasty overall. solid overall

From the bottle; Pretty unremarkable beer; very light in body and in flavour. Came in the Pandora’s box so that was the only reason we had this.