Odd Notion - English Dark Mild (Summer 2008)
Magic Hat Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

reviewed from notes, this one was serve in a pint glass during a magic hat tasting i had with my brother in law down at his apartment.

The pour was very nice, rich looking medium brown with a mild cloudiness about it. Rich color here with a nice head of off white which hung around for a few moments before settling down into a thin film. The aroma was light, medium fruit notes, apricot maybe with a hint of some light spice and tons of grain. More of the same on the taste as I run through on this one. The flavor was a bit lacking for me. Nice malt profile with a light ouch of fruit and spice, but not nearly strong enough of a profile to really get me to enjoy it. Smooth, mellow carbonation and a low abv made it nice and and drinkable, though a bit dull.

Review from notes.
Poured from bottle to Pint glass like a Coke, it had the same dark brown color and the same bubbly head as a soda poured from a warm 2 liter bottle. The head settled to a solid sheen with minimal clinging lace. Had a faint malty smell. Tasted of malts with a slight hint of smokiness, but I can't get the Cola taste out of my mind. Medium body and carbonation, and drinkable enough. Had this from a sample pack and I don't ever expect to have it again.

Bottle sample at Jungle Jim's.

Poured clear reddish brown with an average fizzy off-white head that diminished slowly with good lacing. Moderate complex roasted sweet malty aroma. Medium body with a sticky texture. Medium sweet roasted flavor with a medium sweet finish of moderate duration.

Soft drinkable beer.

12 Oz Bottle poured into pint glass

A: Nice Brown Red about a fingers worth of head.... very little lacing

S: I'm getting burnt Malt, spices.... smoke and some bread like scents.... Complex yet simple.

T: Malty is right upfront... notes of bread and a light smokiness... Very simple yet complex flavor.... Kind of like a light porter.... Very interesting and well balanced.

M: A little on the thin side... I would say English Dark Mild Ale is right on the money.... Carbonation is very nice for this type of brew...

D: Magic Hat does it again... A different take on Summer Beer... yet it hits the marks for a darker beer and also hits the marks for summer brew as well.... Very enjoyable...

Final Comments: Sadly this brew will not be around next summer... But I look forward to what they in the upcoming season boxes...

7 oz draught sample. Pale yellow pour with a tiny fizzy head that quickly dissipates. Aroma of vinegar-cider and apple peels. Taste is very thin and watery with a faint artificial sour finish. Nice try by a good brewery, but this is pretty poor. Could have been the tap but this place rotates regularly.

A little flat; a lot malty; not a bad beer, but nothing exceptional here. Reminds me of a German malt-rich ale. Not a higly drinkable beer and the non-carbonatin of it sort of makes me not want to grab another. I have been a little disappointed with Magic Hat though, and I think this is one of the ones I like most. The other wheat and lighter beers were a little too ordinary for my liking.

Bottle courtesy of Ding as part of Good, Bad, and Ugly BIF. Thanks!
Quite clear with a mahogany colour, bit of an orange tint. Quickly dissipating cap of whitish foam left a slim collar behind, not much in the way of lacing. Malty aroma, notes of chocolate and roasted malts. Same in the flavour with moderate bitterness for the gravity, plus mild hop character. Lingering caramelized sugar. Light bodied and drying, carbonation was average but a little too high for my tastes. Pleasant and easy to drink.

This came as the seasonal in the Magic Hat summer pack. Their seasonals are hit or miss, this one was middle of the road.

Pours dark brown, like cola, with a tan creamy head that fizzles out and swirls around with good lacing. Caramels and malts dominate the nose, with a bit of alcohols as well. Taste follows with maltiness and sweetness. It's a little gaggy and thin on the swallow, but if you want a malty slightly sweet kinda beer then this is a good selection.

Bottle courtesy of the fundraiser I put on recently - to the victor go the spoils! Poured into a traditional pint glass.

Appearance: Pours a dark ruddy-brown bodied beer, transparent, with a quick settling, bubbly tan head. Carbonation is of an average level, but very fast and active. Lacing is nonexistent. Stylistically accurate, if nothing amazing.

Aroma: Incredibly faint and one-dimensional. Just that heavy dextrin, toasty malt scent. Not too appealing.

Taste: Mild, but nice. Lots of toasted malts - chocolate, coffee, heavy toast - and heavier dextrins, as well as one or two lighter sweet notes (certainly the candi sugar). Almost no hop presence, but there is a faint grassy twang and an almost imperceptible bitterness near the finish (though that could be toasted malt astringencies).

Mouthfeel: Crisp and bubbly, almost airy thin. Mouth itself is uneven, and dextrins and other sugars leave a bit of a coat.

Drinkability: Nothing terribly here, but nothing too outstanding either. Abv% is fine for the style, well-hidden, and outstandingly low (by American standards, eh?), but there just isn't enough going on here to keep me too interested for too long. That being said, it is a very easy-going, drinkable beer ... just not one I'd go back to often.

A: Poured a dark chestnut brown (ruby-marzen when held up to the light) with a 1 finger soapy khaki colored head that quickly dissipated to a bare surface with no visible lacing.

S: fair and moderate in strength with apple skins, dried oranges, an alcohol spiciness (cinnamon) and dried fruitcake. There was some light fresh coffee scents as well.

T: spicy caramel and cola, with a ripe fruitiness of prunes. Light rum raisins, dark sweet caramel and dried fruit cake with some alcohol fusels are also well noted. There is also light smoky peat, and fresh coffee that linger about contributing to the flavor.

M: very smooth, with a light-medium viscosity while it left a warm and spicy cinnamon/cola nuttiness fade on the tongue.

D: Overall a touch dark for a summer beer. Drinks much bigger then its advertised 4.2% abv and was fairly big on flavor though not one I would care to sit and drink in numbers.

Pours a brown color with some amber hues, good sized head that fades to leave a little bit of lacing.

Smell is primarily caramel malt, slight nuttiness to it as well.

Taste is very similar to how it smells, pretty much all roasted malt, seems a bit thin, low carbonation, incredibly dry aftertaste which isn't all that pleasant for this beer. Another Odd Notion letdown.

I've been consistently unimpressed with Magic Hat beers, despite for some reason being a fan when I started by craft-adventure. This, again, is quite mediocre. Brown beer with a weak head and no lacing. Nose is subtle malt, a touch of spice. Flavor is similar, grainy and mostly uninteresting with malt and no real hop presence. Mostly, I'm just bored. Why drink this?