Odd Notion - Brown Rice Lager (Late Summer 2009)
Magic Hat Brewing Company

Had this one as a sample at the brewery also, This beer was pretty good I thought, it's a shame that's all I got was a sample. The beer poured out as a decent looking brown color with a thin white head on top. The smell of some hops and grains were coming off of this one. The taste of hops and grainy rice mingle together to make a pretty impressive flavor profile. The mouthfeel like most Magic Hat beers was a little on the weak side I thought. Overall I still thought that this brew was pretty good.

Appearance: orange in color with a short one finger head that breaks apart quickly. No lace develops.

Smell: very little malt sweetness rises from the glass. Nothing else to detect here.

Taste: mild malt profile with some light graininess. Very mild bitterness here. This comes off as a typical macro beer with just a little more punch and flavor.

Mouthfeel: crisp throughout. Aftertaste is very short.

Drinkability: this one was easy to consume but I found myself reviewing the other taps to see what was next before I even finished this.

This is a brown rice lager and doesn't fit the other Odd Notion listings. Brown rice is used prominently, hence the style classification that I chose.

Pours a brownish-amber color with a thin one-finger head into my fluted tulip.

Aroma is crisp with a hint of sweet malt and rice in the nose. Seems about right.

Taste is full of sweet, dry malt with only a tiny amount of bitterness from the hops in the middle. Rice seems to dominate the palate but it's sweet and inoffensive.

Mouthfeel is dominated by rice and sweet malt. Finishes a bit dry but not by too much with a bit of remaining bitterness.

Not bad. A good experiment and something different for the palate. Drinkable as it is though.

On-tap 6/6/09 at Doherty's East Ave Irish Pub in Pawtucket, RI, served in a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a light brown color, with a dense off-white head that fades slowly and leaves a thick lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is faint but contains bready malts, rice, some citrus, caramel and a touch of hops.

T: The taste is very bready up front but isn't too heavy with flavors of rice, citrus, caramel and honey. The hops presence is mild and there's a little tanginess that creeps in. The malt character is hearty. The after-taste is bready and slightly sweet.

M: Smooth and crisp, medium body, medium-to-high carbonation, finish is clean.

D: Tasty, goes down easily, not too filling, mild kick, there isn't much of anything that you can really compare this beer to but it's a decent beer if you're looking to drink something different.