Magic Hat Odd Notion - Belgian Blonde (Summer 09)

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

Growler - pours a hazy gold with a soapy lace - aroma of dry, crackery malts, light honey, a touch of lemony tartness, mild belgian yeast phenols - fairly crisp and refreshing, with a lot of dry malts and moderate spice - a tiny bit of clove and other phenols - a touch of herbal bitterness and floral character on the end - finishes with a tiny bit of sweetness - a little boring, but decent.

Pours a slightly hazy yellow gold with a big white head. Aroma is light malts with a hint of banana. Flavor is light malts with some banana and spice. Not bad, especially consider the date on the bottle.

Summer beers are known for being light and crisp and often with a citrusy taste. That’s an accurate description of Magic Hat’s “Odd Notion” for Summer 2009 – Belgian Blonde. However, this beer has some real gusto to it with a strong palate and a body to match.

POUR, COLOR AND AROMA

This beer pours smoothly to form a clear golden body reminiscent of an American lager. The head is average-sized and white and soapy but it dissipates rather quickly and doesn’t lace the glass. The aroma more than makes up for these things, though, as it is a very sweet combination of light fruity scents and mild spice.

TASTE

I had no idea what to expect out of Belgian Blonde. I figured it would be a slightly fruity but otherwise generic ale. However, I was pleasantly surprised upon my initial taste to encounter such a vivid, complex palate. Banana and clove are the most noticeable ingredients and are very strong. Then the taste is balanced by a sweet lemony zest – which is what most other summer ales tend to start with.

Magic Hat has certainly put their unique spin on what is otherwise a pedestrian beer. It’s best described as a hybrid of a summer ale and an American hefeweizen. No other brewers would put this much spice in their beer, but I’m glad they did since it has real flavor. And although there is a lemon taste present, there is no tart citrus. Overall, the palate adds up to a very sweet, malty taste that’s very refreshing.

FINISH

Belgian Blonde is what a good summer beer should be – extremely soft and gentle to the mouth and just as smooth going down. Since it has an IBU rating of only 17 there is no bitterness here, although I would describe it as slightly crisp. The average drinker should have no problem throwing back a few of these.

BODY

As tasty and smooth as this beer is, it doesn’t lend itself to drinking in large quantities since it’s 5.9% ABV. This is surprisingly high for a summer seasonal and it also has the sheer density to match. After drinking two bottles in a row I could definitely tell, and although I could handle it, I was feeling more than satisfied just a few swigs into my second helping.

FINAL THOUGHTS

A part of me wants to rate Magic Hat Belgian Blonde even higher because it’s so tasty, but another part of me wants to rate it lower because it’s probably more gimmicky than genuine. Regardless, the fact is this is definitely a good beer at the core and is quite refreshing as well – and that’s what we all look for in a summer beer.

NOTE: Watch the video version of this review at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibVq4h1AvSQ

a decent Belgian style ale, yeasty and a touch of sour acidity in harmony with appropriate spice and a touch of fruit. little bit of hop is present and the alcohol is substantive enough yet brew is refreshing. finish fades out nicely.

Bottle. Moderate malt notes of grain and hay, flowers and grass for the hops, light barnyard for the yeast, with hints of white wine and allspice. Head is small, fizzy, white with a little lacing and is almost fully diminishing. Color is clear pale yellow. Flavor starts lightly sweet and moderately acidic, then finishes lightly to moderately acidic and bitter. Palate is light to medium, dry and has a soft carbonation and a dry finish. Light and fairly Tripel-ish, just a little thin on taste.

12 oz bottle. Straw colored slightly cloudy pour with a thin off white head. Aroma of yeast and malt. Taste of yeast with some very faint, slighlty stale barnyard and bread. Even finish, slighlty thin palate.

This bottled brew from a bottle shop poured a medium sized head of foamy white colored bubbles that were mostly lasting and left behind a transparent typically carbonated yellow colored body and a thick foamy lacing. The putrid aroma was malty at best. The mouth feel was tingly at the start and at the finish. The kind of funky flavor contained notes of stale malt slightly soumalt and floral hops. Not much to my liking and one that I would not buy again.

12oz from the sampler. Only having had Odd Notion once before I didn’t know that it varied with the season. Not bad at all.

12 oz. bottle. Pours a very hazy pale gold with a moderate white head that lasted through the first quarter of the glass and left very little lace. The aroma is orange, coriander and yeast. The flavor is orange, coriander, wheat, and yeast. A bit oily on the palate, which I was not crazy about. Its the end of August and I think I’ve had my fill of wits and other summer beers. As for this ale, an ok beer, but probably not something I’d look to revisit.

12 oz. bottle pours a light golden yellow with little to no head. Highly carbonated, thin body. Aroma of yeast with slight citrus. Front palate of wheat with a lemony middle and sour finish. Some corriander and nutmeg in the aftertaste. The flavor and aroma made more sense when I found out they’re calling it a Belgian ale, but it doesn’t seem a very good sample of the style.

Poured from the bottle a creamy gold color. Small head, little tracing on the glass. Mouthfeel is creamy, it tastes how it looks, with some good malt sweetness in the finish. A good summer brew.