Magic Hat Vinyl

Brewed by Magic Hat Brewing Company
Style: Amber Lager/Vienna
South Burlington, Vermont USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Shaker

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Light brown color. Very smooth later. Good flavor. Drank 2 of these with dinner and they went down very easy.

Not too bad, maybe I’m buzzed...but it was nice to try at least. Moving on.

Appearance: Pours a hazy copper with a dense small white head atop.

Aroma: Faint sweet malt, bran cereal.

Taste: Toasty sweet malt, spicy hops. Finishes toasty and a touch fruity.

Mouthfeel: Very thin, almost watery with a moderate level of bubbles.

Overall: A non-offensive light toasty lager.

Bottle. Hazy amber with dissipating foamy head. Smells lightly of biscotti with a sweet and floral around. Light flavor a touch sweet then balanced with a dry finish. Actually not too bad.

Bottle. Nice amber color. Lovely aroma, mildly Nutty smell. Not much head. Nice balance between hops and malt. Like a mild fat tire, and that's ok in my book. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Cloudy amber, tall tan head. Scent is caramel. Taste is light sweet fruit, caramel, a touch of bread, malt....just slightly nutty. Ifound it rather pleasant. very smooth.

Aroma: apples, caramel, floral, grass Appearance: golden, amber, cloudy, minimal head, white foam Taste: light sweetness, medium bitterness Palate: medium body, thin feel, flat, bitter

12oz bottle - pours clear amber with lots of off-white head and some lacing. Nose is caramel. Flavor is a little hoppy but I’m hesitant as to picking one out. Taste is moderately sweet but a bit more bitter. Fairly boring but easy to drink. Next!

Bottle. Friend left these at my house, so I drank a couple. Pours out a yellowish color with a white head. Smell is grassy with a little bit of hops, not much going on. Taste similar, with a pretty heavy grassy overtone; not many hops. Not very good..

Amber lagers are the style of lager everyone forgets about. They’re cleaner than macro adjunct lagers, but not as robust or complex as a Vienna-style or any kind of doppelbock. Magic Hat Vinyl, while not an amazing beer, shows how drinker-friendly and satisfying the style can be. It’s sweeter and maltier than your average lager and is quite refreshing and crisp, but without the fizziness of a macro brew.

I poured a 12oz bottle into a lager glass.

Appearance: Dark gold to red color; slight haze but no sediment visible. Forms a small, ivory, foamy head which mostly dissipates and leaves no lacing.

Smell: Familiar lager aroma only much more malty and somewhat sweet and floral.

Taste: The beer begins with a sweet light grain taste. It’s obvious right away that Magic Hat Vinyl is a lager, but it has a cleaner presentation than most brews of the general style. There’s a slight touch of caramel and honey through the middle and there’s a gentle flowery hop bitterness on the finish (and I do mean gentle considering this is only 20 IBUs). There’s a brief resurgence of sweetness in the aftertaste, akin to a golden lollipop or butterscotch sucker, but it’s mild and short-lived. Otherwise the beer finishes crisp and clean. No off-putting qualities per se, but nothing about it that will knock your socks off, either.

Drinkability: Magic Hat Vinyl has many of the same statistics as some of the better-selling lagers out there, but definitely surpasses them in drinkability. While the mouthfeel is thin, wet, and crisp, there’s no challenge at all in drinking this. The 5.1% ABV seem right on the money as it’s got too much character to be a light beer, but lacks the chutzpah of a stronger lager style. An ideal summer beer for the craft beer drinker as it’s quite refreshing and would pair well with any kind of picnic food.