Aroma: Piney and sweet with a touch of ginger and orange peel. Some yeast notes follow a malt caramel undertone. Some iron, and metallic smells to it.
Taste: Floral flavors with a bit of earthiness. Reminiscent of ginger ale with a spicy finish. Within the sweetness the hibiscus makes a minor appearance, but just enough to incorporate additional flavors. I find finishing spices of coriander and ginger as well as a bittering orange peel. Hops seem non-existent, but I know they impart some additional assistance towards balancing the sweet malt fore and mid taste. finishes dry and bittered, but refreshing. Tea and dryness finish the sweetness midway and transition to the spicy finish and aftertaste.
Mouthfeel: Bubbly like a soda with a spike to the tongue. Lighter body and more of an aggressive texture. Goes down nicely once the spike dissipates.
Overall Impression: An interesting beer, but needs more of a malt sweet backbone to make a real impression on me. Gradually the bitterness takes a dominating character and leaves little to the body and malt. Nice flavors and all, but missing those two components.
71/100
Magic Hat has the unbeleivable ability to market bad beers. If you have ever had Wacko, a summer "beet" beer, it started out as an odd notion and locals took to it like wildfire. Thus it became its own product line.
ReplyDeleteHowever, their winter odd notions are always lacking and yet people still buy them when thrown in with variety packs. I only wish magic hat would put out better seasonals. Long trail, Switchback, Otter Creek, and the like are superior beers in the least.
Too bad, as far I can tell by a very quick Google search, those breweries do not distribute to Illinois (which isn't necessarily a bad thing to be keeping it local). Disappointing though when you want to try some new beers!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input!