Troubadour Magma

Brouwerij The Musketeers
Brewed at De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Ursel, Belgium

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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Bottle at Monks Café, Wallingatan, Stockholm. Pours out in a hazy pale amber appearance, topped with a low frothy lasting white head. Bittersweet aroma of orange-blossom, resin, candied peaches, pine and apricots. Nearly full-bodied with notes of resin, candied apricots, cat-pee and blond grapefruit. Long warming dryish and bitter aftertaste of grapefruit, white pepper, cat pee and apricots.

Serving: 330 ml. bottle from State Line Liquors.
Aroma: The nose is a mix of sweet citrus notes and pine. There are some nice herbal hop undertones here as well. A bit of phenol comes out as the beer warms.
Appearance: It pours a cloudy dark orange color with a large, creamy, beige head. The head has great retention.
Taste: A solid bitterness greets you upfront followed by some Belgian yeast notes. This one is well attenuated with lots of pine, orange, grapefruit, and herbal notes. It is a tad hot with alcohol. It’s a bit rough around the edges and part of me wonders what will happen to this with some age.
Palate: Light to medium body with above average carbonation and a medium to long, hot and bitter finish.
Overall: This brew is a bit rough and raw, trying to use brute force on your taste buds. I would prefer something that takes the subtlety and complexity of a Belgian and melds it with a DIPA. This one is too hot with alcohol and too aggressive to enjoy repeatedly.
Score: 8.4.6.3.12

Bottle at ChrisO’s "Raise the Roof" tasting, 31st July 2010. Truly an excellent Belgian take on an American-style DIPA. Bubbly, light palate lets the flavours really shine. Lots of Belgian yeast characteristics combined with a decent level of hops. Nothing extreme, just extremely delightful. Great stuff and no sign of the 9% alcohol.

Bottle (Hopduvel). Pours amber colored, magma if you wish. Fading white head. Simcoe hop nose, sweet grapefruits, orange marmelade. Mouthfeel is mellowed by the malty backbone. Aftertaste is dry bitter but maybe a bit too sticky for me. Good brew.

Pours bright gold with a thin off-white head. Notes of pineapple, flowery hops, pear, alcohol ester, and champagne yeast. Full bodied with a thin off-white head.

Mooi schuimend oranje aandoend bier. Geur en smaak worden gedomineerd door aromatische Amerikaanse hoprassen. Zeer fruitige citrustoetsen en een hoog bitterheidgehalte, dus.

Bottle 33cl. @ ChrisOs Pre-GBBF Shindig 2010.

[ Raise The Roof Tasting ]. Clear medium amber orange color with a average to large, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, caramel, moderate hoppy, light moderate yeasty. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration, fruity, hoppy, citrus. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20100731]

Bottled@The Chriso rock the roof down pre-GBBF tasting. Golden colour, small off-white head. Aroma is strongly hopped with some mild yeastyness in it. Flavour is being quite much the same with some slight spicy notes. Tastes like a strongly hoppes Belgian Strong Blonde Ale.

Poured from bottle. Rather thick head comprised of small, nearly white bubbles. Hazy orange/amber. Moderately hoppy nose, though more peaty and less citrusy than other reviewers, with a smidge of alcohol. Taste: a bit of sweet, a bit of twang, then moderate hops. Easy to drink, finishes very clean, though with some cloy and the aftertaste that is present is a delightful bitterness. The alcohol seemed rather well masked in the bottle I had. Although not as hoppy as I’d hoped, I was overall pleased with this brew.

From tap. Pours hazy orange with a small white head. Aroma is fruity and slight metallic. Sweet malty, yeasty, metallic and fruity. Bitter and phenolic. Bitter and dry herbal fruity. Dry phenolic finish.