Encore

Beer Name: Encore
Brewery: Magic Hat Brewing Company
ABV: 6.4%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by 2/29/12

Encore is another addition to Magic Hat's IPA On Tour series of beers. I believe this is the last one, although maybe they'll add some more to the rotation.

Encore is a cloudy beer with a pale orange color. It pours with about a finger and a half of head (and yes, "finger" is the measurement unit for a beer's foamy hat) that lasts for quite a while before slowly fading and leaving a heavy lacing pattern behind. The aroma is strongly citrusy hops, with a little bit of a florally hop smell in there as well.

This beer has a nice hop flavor without being overly bitter. That's a little surprising since there really isn't much of a malt presence here that often balances out the hops. I could see that being an issue, but since Encore doesn't really pack a hop wallop, everything works out nicely. I doubt that this beer would convince the hop-haters out there to change their tune, but I don't find it to be an overwhelming hop-bomb like many beers out there. The beer has a nice light carbonation, and it finishes with only a slight aftertaste.

Final thought - This might be my favorite of the touring IPAs, although hI.P.A. is certainly a close second. However, if you ask me while hI.P.A. is out, that ordering might be switched around. I guess they are both quite good. I like Encore's hoppiness without the dry finish that a lot of IPAs have. It also works well both with food or on its own, which is a great quality.

-Jon

Hex

Beer Name: Hex
Brewery: Magic Hat
ABV: 5.4%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by 11/30/11

Hex, aka Ourtoberfest, is not classified as an Oktoberfest beer over at Beer Advocate. This also goes for the Rate Beer site, although this one seems like a less fancy ripoff of Beer Advocate. I decided to go straight to the source, but on the actual Magic Hat website, it's classified as an Ourtoberfest, which just isn't helpful at all. Come on! That's not even a style!!

Regardless of what kind of beer it officially is, Hex is a deep copper colored beer that pours with about a half inch of head that fades fairly quickly, leaving almost no lacing. The aroma is strongly malty, with some caramel and chocolate notes. It seems like a typical smelling Oktoberfest beer, even though it might not be.

As usual, Magic Hat produces another enjoyable beer. There is a nice malty flavor here, with a lot of the caramel from the aroma and just a light hint of the chocolate. The beer has a light carbonation and a smooth mouthfeel, leaving just a hint of hops and caramel in the aftertaste.

Final thought - It probably isn't the best Oktoberfest beer, or possibly even an Oktoberfest for that matter, but Hex is tasty and makes a great choice for relaxation. It even tastes good when it warms up, which works nicely if you are struggling to find something good to watch on TV on a Thursday while the Red Sox are working on the most epic September collapse in baseball history.

-Jon

Wacko

Beer Name: Wacko
Brewery: Magic Hat
ABV: 4.5%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by 7/31/11

Wacko is Magic Hat's summer beer, and has the distinction of being my new summer beer of choice. I realize that this is blasphemy coming from the person responsible for 3 consecutive Summer Ale Challenges, but it's true. I think the 800+ Summer Ales I drank in the past 3 years might have been just a few too many.

Wacko is a pinkish beer that is slightly opaque. Yup, that's right. Pinkish. That's due to the beet coloring and beet sugar used in its production. It pours with only a light head that fades practically instantly and doesn't leave much lacing behind. There is a sweet aroma here, possibly from the beet sugar. It smells a little bit like fruit.

There's nothing amazing about this beer, but it's easy to drink and has a low ABV, which is just perfect for a summer brew. No one wants to deal with some jerk who gets wasted at a cookout and knocks the grill over. There is a sweetness to the beer's flavor that tastes a little bit like cherries. This beer is not very carbonated and doesn't have much of an aftertaste. All in all, it's an enjoyable beer that doesn't try to do to much.

Final thought - Is this beer super flavorful? Not really. Does it have an especially memorable taste? Probably not. So what gives it the right to take the summer crown from Sam? I don't really know. What I do know is that I can drink a bunch of these without a problem, and the flavor never gets overwhelming. When I'm laying out in the hammock this summer with a couple of goofy looking pugs, that's all I'm looking for.

-Jon

Blind Faith

Beer Name: Blind Faith
Brewery: Magic Hat
ABV: 6.2%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by 7/31/2011

In my completely non-professional opinion, the Magic Hat summer mix-pack is superior to the spring mix-pack. Write that down if you're keeping track at home.

Blind Faith is another IPA On Tour beer, joining Demo, hI.P.A. and Encore. This one is a dark cloudy copper beer that pours with a little bit of head that fades quickly but leaves a moderate amount of lacing behind. There is a sweet maltiness in the aroma that is combined with the expected amount of hops for an IPA.

While there is definitely a hoppy presence here, it's a lot more toned down than most other IPAs that are out there lately. The sweetness of the malt is very noticeable at the front of each sip, and the hops finish it off without being overly dry or bitter. The beer has a heavy presence in each sip, and there is a medium carbonation to it. There's a slightly bitter finish and a bit of a hoppy aftertaste.

Final thought - After Demo's not-quite-an-IPA performance, the Blind Faith makes a welcome appearance in my latest beer mix-pack. I like the combination of hops and malt in this beer. Both add to the flavor without dominating the other, which is a nice change from other IPAs. Good stuff!

-Jon

Single Chair Ale

Beer Name: Single Chair Ale
Brewery: Magic Hat
ABV: 5%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by 7/31/11

Apparently this beer celebrates the uniqueness of Mad River Glen. So, uh, yeah. There's that.

Single Chair Ale is a golden, straw-colored ale that pours with a minimum of rapidly fading head. It actually has a similar appearance to one of those commercial beers. I don't mean "commercial" in a derogatory sense, but in the sense that this beer looks like one of the beers that is always featured in dumb commercials during televised sporting events. You know what I'm talking about. The aroma here reminds me of either #9 or Long Trail Ale. It must smell like Vermont.

This is a very smooth drinking beer. It has a very light mouthfeel and a nice light carbonation. The flavor here seems to have a little bit of fruitiness in it along with some grains. There's also a slightly sour flavor at the end, which I believe is intentional and is not a bad thing. It's more like a sour apple kind of sour as opposed to say, sour milk. There's a light aftertaste here.

Final thought - This is a nice beer, but for a beer that is supposed to evoke a feeling of a ski area, it feels a lot more like a summer beer than a winter one. While I probably wouldn't go out of my way to get more, I wouldn't be upset to find this in a cooler at a cookout. Not too shabby.

-Jon

Vinyl

Beer Name: Vinyl
Brewery: Magic Hat
ABV: 5.1%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by 5/31/11

Vinyl is Magic Hat's new spring beer, although I'm not sure if there was one previously. There's not a whole lot of information on the Magic Hat website, and the Wikipedia entry for Magic Hat is just awful. It looks like a 12-year old wrote it. Oh well. Time to (hopefully) enjoy some beer!

Vinyl is a mostly copper colored beer with a little bit of redness in it. There is a little bit of head when it's poured, but it fades almost instantly. There is a nice aroma of malts and bread. It actually smells a little bit like a Saranac beer, although I'm not sure that description is going to make sense to anyone who isn't me. The beer leaves almost no lacing at all.

The maltiness of the aroma carries through into the taste here. The flavor is a little bit sweet and heavy in the malt department. This gives the beer a thick mouthfeel, and every sip feels like a major event. There is not much carbonation, so the whole glass feels very smooth as you drink it. The beer finishes without much of an aftertaste.

Final thought - This is a pretty average beer, in that there's nothing bad about it, but also nothing that makes it stands out. As a beer to sit back and relax while watching the Celtics perform barely adequately against the Wizards, it definitely gets the job done. Now to see if the C's can do the same.

-Jon

Demo

Beer Name: IPA On Tour: Demo
Brewery: Magic Hat
ABV: 6%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by 5/31

It's not spring yet on the calendar, but the Magic Hat winter pack has gone away for now and has been replaced by their spring pack. At this rate, Summer Ale will be out ridiculously early again this year, and everyone will be disappointed that the Summer Ale Challenge has been discontinued. Well, no matter. The spring pack has #9, Circus Boy, Vinyl and the aforementioned Demo. I'll hit those middle two at some point, but we're starting with Demo.

Demo is a black IPA, which is a stupid name for a beer. How can it be black and pale? They are like total opposites. I guess this is also called an American black ale, so whatever. If people want to give their beers stupid names, I suppose there's nothing I can do about it. Yet. As predicted by this name, the beer is pretty dark. I would classify it as dark brown with red highlights. It pours with a very thin head that faded almost entirely in a matter of seconds. Despite this, there was still a pretty heavy amount of lacing. The aroma is both hoppy and malty, and reminds me of Dark Element/Matter.

Well, that's interesting. The flavor doesn't really match the aroma at all. But that's not a problem! It's actually very good, although I am not sure that it matches the style either. The flavor is mainly roasted tastes, with a little bit of hops in the background. It's also surprisingly carbonated. Usually I don't like that in a beer, but it works for this one. There is a little bit of sweetness in the finish, and a slightly hoppy aftertaste.

Final thought - As long as you don't go in expecting anything resembling an IPA, this is a very tasty beer. However, if it's anything like the other IPA On Tour beers, I wouldn't get too attached to it. It's probably not going to be around too long. And that's unfortunate. I guess I'll have to treasure the 3 that I have.

-Jon

Howl

Beer Name: Howl Winter Lager
Brewery: Magic Hat
ABV: 4.6%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown (but only because I forgot to check)

Magic Hat's Howl is their winter seasonal beer in the schwarzbier style. Schwarzbier, if you couldn't tell by looking at the word, is German, and it means "black beer." You might be thinking that means that they're similar to stouts and porters, but they aren't. Schwarzbiers, also known as black lagers, have a much milder taste, so you should try them even if you haven't enjoyed dark beers before. Be adventurous!

Although I drank it from the bottle, I could still tell that Howl was a dark brown color. However, there's not really any way for me to have measured the amount of head produced, its retention, or any lacing on the glass. Sorry. I'll try to do better in the future. Howl has an aroma of roasted malt and also faint scents of chocolate or coffee.

The flavor of this beer matches the aroma. It's got a nice roasty flavor that feels like a perfect fit for a winter night. There's also some faint flavors of chocolate and coffee and maybe nuts or something like that. Basically there's a whole lot of flavor going on in that little bottle. There is not a lot of carbonation or aftertaste here, so the beer is very smooth and easily drinkable.

Final thought - For whatever reason, Kate doesn't like this beer, which means they all go to me. And that's just fine, as I enjoy them very much. I think I'll grab a winter mix-pack before everyone switches over to crappy spring white ales.

-Jon

#9

Beer Name: #9
Brewery: Magic Hat
ABV: 5.1%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Someone told me that Magic Hat was recently purchased by InBev A-B or whatever that giant conglomerate is called, but I can't find anything that supports that claim. It was purchased by some group calling themselves "North American Breweries," but I don't think that's the same place. Basically what I'm saying here is, don't believe people.

#9 is a golden colored beer that might have some head if I had bothered to pour it into a glass. It has an aroma that is slightly sweet and has a fruity smell, probably apricots since that is what is in there. There's a pretty good chance that you are already familiar with this beer, so there's not really much to say.

Magic Hat calls #9 a "not quite pale ale," which is sort of confusing because I have no idea what style of beer they are actually going for. If I was expecting something that was like a pale ale but different, I would be completely wrong as there isn't anything pale ale about this. All you hop haters out there can rest easy knowing that this beer is ok for you. The beer has a light flavor of apricot and is easily drinkable since it's got a mild carbonation and pretty low alcohol content.

Final thought - Although it doesn't really feel like a winter beer, Magic Hat's #9 is still a great choice for an extended drinking session. It's not overpowering in any way, and is just a smooth drinking beer from some chill Vermontonians. I actually have no idea if they're chill or if "Vermontonian" is actually the name for people from Vermont, but this is my blog and I'll do what I want.

-Jon

HI.P.A

Beer Name: Hi.P.A
Brewery: Magic Hat
ABV: 6.7%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle poured into a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Hi.P.A is one of Magic Hat's "IPA on Tour" beers, which has to mean something. I am not exactly sure what it means, but my guess is that they are doing a series of IPAs, and this is one of them. Based on the name, I am suspecting that it is a beer that is an IPA and high in alcohol. Also, that is based on the fact that it's packing a 6.7% ABV.

The beer is a pale orangey yellow, sort of like a light honey. It pours with a boatload of head that sticks around for a little while without overstaying its welcome. As it fades, it leaves a heavy lacing on the glass. There is a strong smell of hops here, and maybe something citrus.

Hi.P.A. tastes very hoppy. It's pretty much the defining flavor, which is what is supposed to happen with an India Pale Ale, so hooray! The beer starts a little sweet with that citrus I mentioned earlier, and then you get the hops and bitter finish. The aftertaste is mild and also pretty hoppy. It's like I'm eating hops!! As for carbonation, this fits into the light category with an overall smooth drinkability.

Final thought - I think this beer is great. I'm a big fan of hoppy beers now, and this one is high in the hop department. If you like IPAs and don't mind the bitter finish, this is a beer for you.

-Jon