Troubadour Magma Special Edition 2011 - Cascade Hop
The Musketeers Brouwerijcafé

 

Ahhh---the vintage lurkers in the doomsday beer closet.
This nice BIPA from the 750 ml bottle pours a lightly cloudy orange tinged amber
color with a nice head of white foam that subsides to a thick ring, thin light pool, and
showcases some nice light sudsy lacing. Nose of subtle sweet candy malts and mild
pineapple and light mango hop notes with a touch of breaded malts. Flavors exceed the
nose with breaded malts, pineapple and light mango tinged herbal hop flavors balanced
by light candy sugars and earthy mild yeast notes. Excellent mouth feel; medium body, medium
carbonation, and a herbal citrus finish lightly balanced by sweet candy malts.

overall; a decently aged ale from the beer closet of doom.

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A - Looks like a dark champagne, some combination of yellow brown, and orange. The head rises significantly before and has nice retention before receding down to a slight residual head.

S - Almost nothing honestly. Very very mild, maybe a little bit of caramel/grapefruit? Can barely even smell the hops.

T - Really it's not bad. It starts off having a belgian yeast taste to it, then a bit of caramel hoppiness, then a peppery dry finish. I don't know, it's light but it almost has a bit of a stale taste to it. It tastes kind of nice, but really not great, kind of regret buying it.

M - Light to medium body, slight carbonation, but somewhat flat overall. You can definitely get the alcoholic warmth as it goes down though, which is nice.

O - This isn't a great beer really, it's a belgian triple India Pale Ale and god knows what that even means. It's not awful really, it's just kind of flat and bland. It's has "special edition 2011 Cascade Hop" written on it and it is an IPA and I'm wondering if this has been aged for a year? If so why? Ya gotta drink those IPAs fast ya know? Well, if someone set this in front of me I wouldn't say no, but I would not buy this beer again unless under duress.

 

750 ml bottle into chalice, bottled 8/4/2011. Pours hazy golden orange color with a nice 2 finger fairly dense off white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice soapy lacing clings to the glass, with a good amount of carbonation streaming up. Aromas of huge grapefruit, orange peel, lemon zest, herbal, pine, mango, peach, pepper, pear, earth, honey, yeast spiciness, and a touch of alcohol. Nice aromas with good balance and complexity; intense and a bit resinous feeling. Taste of big grapefruit, orange, lemon zest, mango, pineapple, pine, pear, herbal, floral, pepper, honey, bread, earth, and yeast spices. Good amount of spicy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of citrus, pine, tropical fruit, pepper, pear, earth, and yeast spices on the finish for a good bit. Nice flavor balance and complexity; with a nice malt/hop flavor to peppery bitterness balance with no cloying flavors at all. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a fairly creamy, slick, and slightly sticky mouthfeel that is good. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is an excellent Belgian IPA. Very big Cascade hop presence; with a good balance of Belgian complexity and fruitiness in the background. Very smooth to sip on for 9% as well. Highly enjoyable offering.

Reddish orange with a yeasty complexion. Poured into a snifter with little foam, yet the carbonation was strong when drinking. Smelled a bit sweet and slightly boozy. I picked up on peach jam notes.

It had a nice warm malty aftertaste. Slight hop bitterness. Hops were not as strong for what I would expect; however, this bottle was from 2011. Faint butterscotch flavor.

Overall, this was a good beer, but not outstanding. I think it may have been better fresher.

I’ll have another because I have another bottle in the reserves.