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

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

tastes like a porter to me, but i can see why they call it an irish style red ale, just ’cause of the appearance

Pours a nice brownish/reddish color with a decent sized tanish/off white head. Has a very inviting smell. A little hint of hops and chocolate/coffee. It has a very drinkably quality to it. Perfect for a spring/summer evening/night.

From a 12 fl. oz. bottle with an expiration date of Jul ’08. Pours more brown then red with a little bit of beige head. Kudos for the smoked, cocoa-like aroma. It was quite pleasing on the nose. Medium mouthfeel and bold. Flavor is sweet, malty, lightly spiced, and even a little fruity. It is complex but it is quite a likeable brew. I’ll have another (and I did).

This is a dark brown beer with crimson red highlights and a thin off white head. The aroma and flavor are floral and herbal over a base of toasty and chocolaty malts. Its medium bodied with a smooth texture that finishes slowly with an herbal ginger like spicy fade. I really enjoyed the Odd Notion and will looking next spring if they bring it back.

Courtesy of CigarCityBrew. Pours amber with off white head. The aroma is all over the place with rich roasty malts, sweet malts, licorice, flower pedals, nutmeg, cherries and picnic basket. Wow, lots going on. The taste starts rich sweet and roasty with mild berry fruitiness, some rounded off tartness, mild earthiness, honey, flower pedals, sweet licorice candy, dark hard candy and ending with mild malt sweetness and grainy maltiness. Everything comes together pretty nicely for me here. Yum.

12oz bottle. Deep red-brown color. Clovy sweet aroma. The taste is rich, dry, and spicy. An Irish Red wouldn’t have been my first guess, but i guess it fits that category well enough. Certainly has a spicy amber malt kick to it, almost tangy. Cardamom really comes through. A pretty interesting beer, worth a try.

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.

(draft, thanks acrdz) Medium beige head with nice lacing atop clear copper body. Aroma is moderately sweet, chocolate, toffee, light caramel. Taste is medium sweet, chocolate, some caramel/toffee, light earthy. Light-medium body, light stickiness.