Magic Hat Odd Notion - Chocolate Belgian Stout (Fall 09)

Brewed by Magic Hat Brewing Company
Style: Stout
South Burlington, Vermont USA

Serve in English pint

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Presentation: The new fall seasonal in the very cool night of the living dead variety 12-pack. It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a pint glass. There is a best before the end of Oct. date on the back label of the bottle. Appearance: It pours like used motor oil, thick, viscous and dark brown/black into the glass. In the glass beers color is as black as the night and opaque. On top sits a thick and creamy light brown head. It is about one finger tall and slowly fades to thin coating of lacy foam. The lacing is slick and slides down the sides of the glass as I drink. Smell: The aroma is full and rich. It has notes of dark roasted grain, molasses, burnt caramel, light herbal/metallic hops and a hint of smoke. Taste/Palate: The flavor has a deep roasted character with nice complexity and balance. There are flavor notes of roasted coffee, roasted grain, dark chocolate, burnt caramel and molasses. Underneath there seems to be a hidden estery/yeast flavor as well. This comes out more as the beer warms and adds dark fruity notes of ripe plums and black mission figs. Herbal and leafy hops come in on the back end and give it a good balance of bitterness to the sweet and roasted flavors in the finish. The palate has a solid medium to full body with soft carbonation and a slick viscous texture. Notes: I love this beer!!! It has great complexity and good drinkability. The only thing I would like is a little more head retention but other than that it is a nearly perfect Belgian Stout. I think that Magic Hat should add this one to there regular line up!!!

UPDATED: OCT 14, 2009 gloriously opaque black. nice hot-cocoa colored head. nose is heavy coffee, cappucino, and licorice. loads of aroma not unlike those little liquor-filled bottle-shaped chocolates you can get... flavor is more of a malted chocolate, coffee, kahlua flavor. blackstrap molasses as well. velvety mouthfeel, warm finish. my wife buys the Magic Hat sampler for the #9 and the Circus Boy, but I’ve yet to not be impressed by the Odd Notion series.

Praise be to Farmer(mostly to his girlfriend). This is an absolute beauty. Pours a deep dark souless black, rich caramel head. Smells so heavenly. Nose of chocolate, cocoa, eucalyptus(very strong here), mint, caramel, coffee, slightly smokey, all sorts of bidness. Taste is sublime! Wish i had more than just a third of a bottle, still i shall go wanting. Absolutely fantastic.

With the continued growth of the craft beer industry I have been pleasantly satisfied to see so many mid-level breweries achieve supermarket distribution success. Beer snobs tend to mock the Magic Hat brewery for being “just a supermarket beer” and while I wouldn’t say they exactly on par with Dogfish Head, Rogue or Stone, the fact remains they make some tasty, very drinkable beers.

With their “Night of the Living Dead” mix pack for Fall, 2009 they have included a “Belgian Chocolate Stout” as the seasonal “Odd Notion.” Oftentimes, when American breweries market their beers as being “Belgian-style” it’s strictly a marketing gimmick, but in this case I’m willing to make an exception. I can’t say how close this beer is to a real Belgian chocolate stout (technically, it’s a Belgian dark ale), but for a beer in and of itself it’s impressive. Its mixture of chocolate, roasted malts and hop bitterness combined with a smooth finish all add up to make for one great beer.

APPEARANCE AND AROMA

When you hear the term “chocolate stout” a certain image comes to mind: a jet black beer with a dark brown, creamy head and that’s a dead-on description of this beer. It looks very inviting and tasty from the appearance alone, like dessert in a glass.

The aroma is strong with roasted malts and chocolate announcing their presence as soon as the bottle is opened. It’s similar to other chocolate beers I’ve had, which is a good indicator of how this beer will turn out.

TASTE

I’ve liked (and often LOVED) every chocolate beer I’ve ever had and yet it amazes me that some people still do not enjoy them. I don’t understand what’s not to like. Magic Hat’s Odd Notion has all the makings of beers of the style that I love: a complex palate of roasted (but not burnt) malts; milk chocolate and a bitter hoppy finish.

What distinguishes this beer from other American brews is its use of real Belgian yeast to give it just the slightest, Trappist-like taste. There is some spice on top of the chocolate to give it some pep, and perhaps a fruity taste of sorts (plum and apple). The flavor is much stronger on the finish and leaves a pleasant aftertaste that’s almost as strong as the initial swig.

The roasted malt flavor plays an almost equal role with the chocolate, but is milder than the more intense stouts. This is forgivable since that type of palate is for more discriminating tastes and I think Magic Hat is targeting a more pedestrian audience with this Odd Notion. I’m also impressed by how well the bitterness is balanced against the malt sweetness. At 50 IBUs this is at the level of a pale ale or IPA, but without any kind of dryness.

DRINKABILITY

Another reason I never understand people that dislike chocolate beers is the fact they’re some of the most drinker-friendly brews on the market. Belgian Chocolate Stout is surprisingly mild and just a bit watery in the initial sip, but all the flavor comes out in spades on the finish. The mouthfeel is actually quite soft, but noticeably weighty, but very drinkable overall. At 6.2% ABV it sounds much heavier than it feels, although I’d recommend drinking it instead of, rather than in addition to, dessert.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’ve been drinking Magic Hat’s “Odd Notion” seasonal beers for almost two years now and have never been very impressed until now. Why they would choose to make such a high-quality beer a one-time-only brewing is rather perplexing. Still, as an addition to their mix pack ($14 - $20 depending on your area) it’s a totally worthy choice. I’d love to see it brewed year-round and sold on its own. I think it’s THAT good.

NOTE: Watch the video version of this review here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvLsc8Ln0Sc

Quite good. Had some on tap at the Magic Hat brewery. Poured a dark, rich black hue with a frothy beige head. Nose has some diverse elements: chocolate, coffee from roasted malts, along with a almonds and cherries. Flavor has similar elements, strong malt backbone and slight hops, making for nice complexity. Rich and creamy in the mouth and smooth on the finish. Really enjoyable.

Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured thick, black and oily with a very large incredibly dark brown head. The aroma was malty, sweet and had notes of chocolate and cherry. The flavor was sweet, roasty, toasty and had touches of cherry, chocolate, vanilla and oak. The finish was long with dry cocoa, roasty malts, vanilla and oak.

Appearance: Empties out of the typical whimsical Magic Hat bottle a black body with a frothy, dark tan-colored head. Smell: Chocolaty, lightly roasty, smoky aroma with round-about notes of cracked cloves, ripe plums, and oven-smoked ’nanas mingled within. Taste: Roasty, toasty, but mainly roasty grains and semi-sweet chocolate with a medium level of sweetness. Midway into the taste, a staunch smokiness washes in. For me, the Columbus hops didn’t add too terribly much character beyond a bitter that pairs with the roasted quality of the grains. Light clove spiciness ushers in a fruity mix of bananas and plums. Choco-roasty finish with a final kiss of smoke. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: Why, that’s not bad at all! And such a sensible percentage of alcohol, too. Usually, I’m left looking like a bored ox on a hill when it comes to Magic Hat’s offerings, but this, I dare say, is one of their better brews as of late.

12oz bottle. Dark brown pour, brown head. Sweet aroma of chocolate malt, chocolate cake with fudge icing. Flavor of cocoa, dark chocolate, black patent, burnt grains, coffee roast. A very pleasant surprise. Deep, dark, chocolately roast. One of the better Magic Hat. It’s no Lucky Kat!

Pours dark brown to a black appearance. Some are saying they see a red but I can only see that near the top looking through the opposite edge from me. Aroma of semi-sweet chocolate, roasted coffee, and cherry. Tastes of coffee and a lingering feeling of dark bakers chocolate. A bit creamy, but pretty light feeling for a stout (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing). Pretty flat on the carbonation side (i.e. zero to little head ) and the tastes lasts a decent amount after a drink. Overall nothing is to overwhelming which I think is good, except for maybe the aroma which I personally like in this kind of beer. A good compliment to a non-chocolate/coffee dessert unless you want to over indulge yourself.

definitely smells like chocolate, silky on the tongue, but less viscous than a standard Guinness. some fruity notes. very solid for fall/winter.