Participation Ale
Magic Hat Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes Oct 15, 2008
Bottle. Golden orange color pour with a big soft fluffy white head. Aroma of floral and bitter hops,some spicyness,a faint whiff of lemon zest.Pleasent flavor of pale malt and spicy citrus hopps,dry corn bread,and just a touch of honey.Light body with a crisp finish. Pretty good

I had this in a sampler 12 pack. Unfortunately I didnt have a pint glass to rate the looks, but the aroma was great. A nice malty smell with a piney cascadey hop aroma. The flavor was crisp with a nice hop kick, but not too hoppy where I couldn't taste the malty. A nice light bodied beer that I could drink all night.

Presumably "please drink by the end of December" means "please drink by the end of 2004." That being said I just finished an Italian Pilsner brewed at least 18 months ago and it still blows away even the fresh competition in its class. "Best fresh" beer styles should be able to hang after the expiration date.

Very dark brown, rose red highlights. Tissue-thin sheet of foam. Oreo cookie and molasses aromas. Bone dry, very thin textured and astringent with hops tannins. Tangy seed flavor join the halting, short finish. No suggestion of fruit anywhere, but no real signs of "burn" or other stress. It's been cellared at 60 deg. F since the winter. Exceedingly light and watery tasting.

Thanks to sulldaddy for sending this one my way. This one pours a dark brown color with a small head that has good retention and leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma has a lot of chocolate malt and a slight bit of roasted malts. Smells very good. The flavor is almost identical to the aroma: Lots of chocolate goodness with a slight roastyness. I think this could use a little bit more body, but it's nice with the meduim mouthfeel. The drinkability is great. Good brew.

Thanks to sulldaddy and clvand0 for sharing this with me. It pours a dark brown color with ruby hues. A small head falls to coat the brew. The nose is really nice. There is some chocolate and coffee tones along side roastyness. The flavor is nutty, chocolatey, slightly coffee bitter. Lots going on there. It leaves a nice sweet chocolate on the tongue in the finish. The feel is moderate, with a moderate carbonation. I would like a little more in there. I could be happy drinking this all day. Very smooth and easy drinking. I like it.

Pours a dark ruby red-brown, topped with a one finger creamy khaki head, leaves webs of lacing.
Fruity aroma, molasses, flowers and cocoa, powdery.
Toasty, nut taste, caramel, fruity, floral, toffee and cocoa, some butter but it's not overpowering.
Medium bodied, good but not great.

Translucent, deep burgundy-brown with a dense cap of pale ecru foam that is persistent, but leaves no more than a meager amount of lace in specks and spatters.

Cocoa powder is the dominant member of the nose. I would normally say chocolate, but it doesn't smell rich or sweet. It has more of a powdery, almost flinty, character. It's also weaker than it should be.

In terms of flavor, Participation is nothing more than a fair to middlin' brown ale whose worst fault is its light body. The flavor doesn't have a chance to make a statement because it isn't permitted to hang around all that long. Although it's still lightly chocolatey, it's as far from the notion of thick, sweet, rich melted chocolate as is possible. It's lightly ale fruity, but is still hop deficient. On the positive side, I don't appreciate much Ringwood yeastiness.

As noted, the body/mouthfeel is too light, even when taking style into consideration. It's also weakly carbonated. This is a fairly easy drinking beer if flavor and mouthfeel aren't high on your list of gotta haves. Unfortunately, they're all that really matter to me.

We aren't that far past the election of '04, so this bottle should still have been fairly fresh. It tastes a little stale though, but that may be because the flavor profile doesn't set my world on fire. Participation is an average English Brown that definitely doesn't get my vote. Thanks to far333 for the bomber.

22oz. bomber: This one pours pretty much a brown color, with maybe a twinge of red. Some off white head that dies out quickly. Hints of both vanilla and chocolate to the nose. Also a bit of roastiness. The taste has more notes of chocolate and coffee than anything else. There are also possible some hints of hazlenuts. A touch lighter than would be expected.