Magic Hat #9

Magic Hat Brewing Company
Burlington, Vermont

APPEARANCE: 2.5/3
Honey-gold. Clear. White, foamy head; steady stream of bubbles.

AROMA: 2.25/4
Apricot/peaches and cream. Sugary, malty. Minimal hop. Very sweet-smelling.

TASTE: 6.75/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 2.75/4: Woody, nutty—burnt almond. A hint of Tang*. And apricot, obviously.
Aftertaste: 2/3: Very sweet, lasting bitter. Almost chemical. Soapy.
Mouth-Feel: 2/3: Woody, nutty. Fizzy. Fairly light-bodied.

OVERALL: 1.75/3: Odd—almost a fruit beer, not a pale. I (Ben) have had it on tap and thought the lines were soapy—nope, it's the beer.

TOTAL: 13.25/20–I'll Try A Pint

NOTES:
Matt: I think I like this more than Ben. If you hate apricot, though, it's a non-starter. Nice for a change, refreshing enough, but one will do. Sadly, this is the best of the Magic Hat brews.

Ben: Struggling to get past the apricot flavoring—very woody and nutty. I don't think this is a pale ale.

*You know, Tang? Drink of astronauts? Hello?

Sierra Nevada Estate Homegrown Ale

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Chico, California

APPEARANCE: 2.5/3
Orange-copper color. Cloudy, off-white, foamy, rocky head. Big bubbles.

AROMA: 3.25/4
Strong hop nose. Citrus/grapefruit. Malty, meadowy, piney.

TASTE: 8/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 3.25/4: Grassy, woody. Hop flavor dominant. Fades to strong hop bitterness. Very bready—raisin bread. Slight sourness.
Aftertaste: 2.5/3: Bitter end, some sourness. Malt fades quickly, bitterness sticks around. Starts grassy, ends woody.
Mouth-Feel: 2.25/3: Thin; has body, but on the weaker side. Appropriately carbonated.

OVERALL: 2.5/3: Very green—the wet hop quality is there. Needs more body to offset the bitterness. Overall, a good beer.

TOTAL: 16.25/20–Pour Me Another

NOTES:
Matt: Tough call—I like it, it's refreshing; yet, hop flavor fades too quickly to note, too thin, too bitter. Sierra Nevada occasionally suffers from the high expectations we place on them, alas.

Ben: Don't get me wrong, I like this beer. It does fall short on body. It's green, but wet-hop, so it's to be expected. Worth a try when it comes out once a year.

Sierra Nevada Hoptimum Imperial IPA

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Chico, California

APPEARANCE: 3/3
Copper color, crystal-clear. Lasting off-white, foamy head.

AROMA: 3.75/4
Hop! Grapefruit dominant. Grassy, some pine. Beautiful hop aroma. Some bready maltiness.

TASTE: 9.25/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 3.75/4: Bready, sweet and malty offset by citrus hop flavor. Nicely-balanced, the right amount of sweet and bitter. Citrus flavor is overwhelming (and that's a good thing).
Aftertaste: 2.75/3: Lingering hop bitterness, residual sweetness. Woody aftertaste, some alcohol is noticeable (and at 10+%, that shouldn't be a surprise).
Mouth-Feel: 2.75/3: SMOOTH. Full, big, ranks up there with the all-time greats.

OVERALL: 3/3: Big but extremely drinkable. An experience, a beer to be savored. 10.4% ABV, so look out.

TOTAL: 19/20–Keep 'Em Comin'

NOTES:
Matt: There's a momentousness, a feeling of significance to this beer—a sense, as you drink it, that you should be paying close attention to every detail. A very, very good beer.

Ben: Alcohol warming, hop aftertaste. Exactly what I want in an imperial IPA, another must-have for hopheads. This is truly a GREAT beer!

Trader Joe's Bavarian-Style Hefeweizen

Trader Joe's Brewing Company
San Jose, California

APPEARANCE: 2.25/3
Honey-gold color. Hazy. Strong, foamy white head. Pretty.

AROMA: 3.25/4
All malt, no hop. Clove, banana, bubblegum, pineapple. Smells like a hefeweizen (that's a good thing).

TASTE: 6.75/10

Hop/Malt Balance: 3/4: No hop, very malty. Sweet. Did they go with only one hop pellet?
Aftertaste: 2.5/3: Bubblegum, lasting banana. Subtle hop bitterness.
Mouth-Feel: 2/3: Effervescent, a full mouth-feel, but a little too light-bodied for our tastes.

OVERALL: 2.25/3: Far exceeded expectations (which were, admittedly, low). A nice representation of the style, pretty much everything one would want in a hefeweizen.

TOTAL: 15.25/20–Pour Me Another

NOTES:
Matt: I am impressed! Trader Joe's is coming (with much hoopla) to the KC metro sometime in 2011, supposedly; based on this, I'm eager to see what else they offer, where the price point lands, etc. A nicely-crafted hefeweizen.
Ben: Surprisingly good–this tastes like a hefeweizen should taste. Don't let the "Trader Joe's" branding deter you, this is well worth a try.

Sam Adams Black Lager

Boston Brewing Company
Boston, Massachusetts

APPEARANCE: 2.25/3
Big, espresso-colored head. Lots of bubbles. Dark brown, almost opaque.

AROMA: 2.25/4
Subtle roasted chocolate aroma, subtle sweetness. Clean, little hop aroma.

TASTE: 5.5/10

Hop/Malt Balance: 2/4: Very sweet, all malt with no hop. Roasted character with sweet overtones.
Aftertaste: 1.5/3: Very subtle hop bitterness, slight sweet-cream aftertaste, both fade quickly.
Mouth-Feel: 2/3: Weak, light-bodied, a bit watery (even so, the best aspect of this beer, for what it's worth).

OVERALL: 1.5/3: Unremarkable. Slightly better than the Boston Lager, but there are a million better beers out there. This large "craft brewer" has lost sight of its roots.

TOTAL: 12/20–I'll Try A Pint

NOTES:
Matt: Did they put black food coloring in their Boston Lager? This is a half-hearted attempt to capitalize on the popularity of craft beers.
Ben: A gateway beer for Bud Light drinkers who think they are cool by drinking a supposed craft beer. Little do they know…

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale (2011)

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Chico, California

APPEARANCE: 2.75/3
Beautiful reddish-brown hue. Thin, white head that laces the glass. Clear, pretty. Steady stream of bubbles.

AROMA: 3.25/4
Sweet and citrusy. Grapefruit, brown sugar. Hoppy nose. Malty, very clean.

TASTE: 7.75/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 3.25/4: Lots of malt, helps offset the bitterness. Grapefruit. Hop bitterness at finish–nicely balanced.
Aftertaste: 2/3: Lots of hop bitterness that lingers. Initial sweetness fades quickly. Maybe a touch too bitter–a bit green yet.
Mouth-Feel: 2.5/3: Malty, smooth. Full mouth-feel. Some alcohol, but geez, it's almost 10%.

OVERALL: 2.5/3: Big, full and nicely-balanced. Warming alcohol. A bit young, it will likely improve; it would be interesting to revisit this a year from now.

TOTAL: 16.25/20–Pour Me Another

NOTES:
Matt: A tasty brew–big and chock-full of flavor (and huge, calorically speaking–more than 300 calories per 12 oz. serving!). Sweet and malty, nicely done–it is a Sierra Nevada, after all.

Ben: A good vintage, if a bit green; it will probably be phenomenal in a year or two.

Boulevard Chocolate Ale

Boulevard Brewing Company
Kansas City, MO

APPEARANCE: 2.25/3
Thick, cream/almond rocky head. Orange-brown, hazy. Mysterious! Yet, we expected a darker brew.

AROMA: 3.5/4
Chocolate nose, not sharp or overwhelming. Malty sweetness, caramel, slight nuttiness. Dark chocolate (maybe baker's chocolate?), cocoa. Smells nice, like a box of chocolates.

TASTE: 7.5/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 3/4: Earthy, malty. Sweet up front. Definite chocolate, vanilla notes. No hop flavor to speak of, alcohol is nicely masked.
Aftertaste: 2.25/3: Chocolate notes. Coffee, hop bitterness at finish. Chocolate lasts and lasts, some alcohol at the close.
Mouth-Feel: 2.25/3: Starts out sweet, finishes quite dry. Lightly carbonated.

OVERALL: 2.25/3: Good, does its job well–it's a beer first, a chocolate beer second. It's like chasing a bite of dark chocolate with a swig of a decent ale.

TOTAL: 15.5/20–Pour Me Another

NOTES:
Matt: Improves quite a bit as it warms, so don't drink it too cold. Intriguing, nicely done for what it is. If you aren't a local, it's difficult to communicate the hype that sprang up around this beer–it was almost impossible to get, for some. Does it live up to that hype? Sadly, no, not quite.
Ben: Different. Definitely chocolatey–this would be better as a stout. Once-in-a-lifetime beer makes it unique, but falls short of expectations.