Elder Betty
Magic Hat Brewing Company

3.55/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

Pours a hazy pale orange color with plenty of carbonation. Smell is sweet. Taste is sweet and mild, very pleasant to drink. The feel is silly smooth, overall not a bad brew at all, very easy drinking

 201 characters

3.5/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Light yellow colored beer with an aroma of light berries. Taste is bready and tart berries. Overall a light and refreshing beer that is probably best suited for the summer.

 172 characters

4.42/5  rDev +33.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Malty, Light, with a fruity almost slightly tart finish. Easy to drink.

Taste Rating in Words: It's picking a plum and eating it, so fresh and inviting.

 154 characters

3.35/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

A- clear amber color with half finger head. no lacing

S- bready malts with faint hints of berry

F- bready malts...minimal hint of berry

M- malty and light bodied, goes down easy enough

O- meh...it was a nice go for a variety pack.

 235 characters

3.57/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Retired? I just drank two from a variety pack on 23 July 2017...

Anyway, I really liked the crystal clear look of the brew in the pint glass. It pours a good, white head, but dissipates very quickly leaving no opportunity for lacing. The smell was a mixture of blueberry, wheat, bread, and some hints of sweetness I can quite put a name too. I felt it was light-bodied with a light character in the mouth but still very approachable and very sessionable as well. The taste was a very muted blend of blueberry and wheat, I wish it had been a bit more potent, thought it had a nice malt backdrop I enjoyed. Overall, not the greatest of beers, but definitely a perfect summertime beer over the usual Corona's folks like to gravitate too...

 743 characters

2.88/5  rDev -13.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3

DATE: July 22, 2017... OCCASION: having bowled with the Morgans, we set our sights on dinner...GLASSWARE: Weihenstephan weizen... pours a truly golden body with thick, clustering bubbles that form a frothy, clumpy white head that would make sea foam envious... wafting aroma of elder berry, tart raspberry, banana, clove, perfume esters, and light biscuit malts... not off-putting... first sip is effervescent, medium-bodied, fizzy and creamy enough to be a fulfilling sip in its own right...reasonable for a wheat ale, without much to detract from its path... berry is overpowered by caramel and biscuit--not what I expected, or should have... flowers and bubblegum are also present... the profile is refreshing but not a berry weisse in some respects...honestly, this works in some weird way, but I do not find it ultimately a beer I’d come back...though it reminds me of our time in Love Ladies with the Blancos, and that is worth something...

 948 characters

3.36/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

Amber color with mild amount of carbonation. The smell of berries was noticable from afar,very strong berry wheat aroma. Taste followed aroma ending with wheat and mild hops. It may not be a great brew but it was unusuall and I enjoyed more than I expected to and would have it again

 284 characters

2.09/5  rDev -37%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

I think this is one of those beers that is better from the tap. The aroma that I got was more of just alcohol and some malt, which wasn't really that pleasant. The color and the head are as expected, but the flavor fell very short. I couldn't really tell what I was drinking as everything was muted flavor-wise. I'd skip this one in the future unless I was in the taproom.

 372 characters

4.02/5  rDev +21.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

**
06/20/2014
Aroma, sour fruit: raspberry, BlackBerry. I’m not familiar with elderberry bourbon guessing that’s what I’m smelling. App: cloudy yellow, Small white head. Taste: airy, sweet and sour, plum,wheat. Not pasty at all for a wheat beer. Feel: above average carbonation, Very nice. Yea, magic hat.
**

 314 characters

2.89/5  rDev -13%
look: 2.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Very light weight summer wheat beer, sweetened with elderberries. Nice hazy golden color, but not much in the mouthfeel or palate. Sweet and refreshing, but nothing memorable

 174 characters

3.61/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Appearance: Slightly pale golden orange in color, with a massive, dense white head, with excellent retention. Minor sediment is present. Slight, slow-rising carbonation is present. Elegant, complex lacing resembles river stones in mortar.

Aroma: Rich, modestly sweet elderberry notes dominates thee aromaa, complimented by classic wheat malt.

Taste: The taste begins with mildly sweet elderberries, hard to describe, like a wild dew berry with less sweetness, but more fruit flavors. A classic wheat malt base presents well, and compliments, rather than clashing with the dominating elderberries. I have had a number of fruit and what ales, this one rivals all in both subtlety and complexity. Finishes with long, lingering elderberry notes and a bit of earthy wheat malt.

Mouth feel: Soft, smooth and full, very pleasant.

Drinkability/notes: A quite interesting and drinkable example, one which I would be happy to have again. An imperial version of Elder Betty would be quite compelling - hint, hint, Magic Hat.

Presentation: Packaged in a standard twelve-ounce brown glass long-neck bottle, served in a New Belgium Brewing chalice.

 1,139 characters

3.06/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 2 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

It is hazy light amber in color. The head is almost non existent after the initial pour. It has aromas of bread, cinnamon, and wheat. The flavors of bread, berry, and sweet brown sugar with a dash of cinnamon dominate the flavor palate. It’s listed as a wheat ale, but it doesn’t resemble any wheat ale that I’ve had. If your looking for a unique taste, this one has it. If you are looking for a true wheat ale, this isn’t it.

 434 characters

3.75/5  rDev +13%

05/22/13 At Rattle N Hum, NYC. On tap. Very refreshing. The hint of berry is a nice touch. Light bodied wheat with a balanced flavor. We could become good friends. I might track it down in bottles to see if it holds it's smoothness.

 233 characters

4.25/5  rDev +28%

Elder Betty is my favorite fruit beer I've ever had. It's not like other fruit beers, where you think you're just drinking cider; there's enough of an aftertaste that reminds you that it's beer to know it isn't cider, and it's not overpowering with one fruit. I love it.

 271 characters

3.85/5  rDev +16%

Pours a straw yellow with no head at all, no lacing, decent amount of bubbles coming from the bottom of the glass but they disappear the moment they reach the top.

Smell is a sweet malt front with hints of fruit dancing about, can't quite make out what specific fruit but I'll go out on a limb and say elderberry (although I've never eaten one on its own).

Taste is essentially a fruity malty beer, the sweet malt and the light fruit aspects dominate, no real hop balance, decent carbonation in the mouth with a light tart finish (nothing puckering though).

I actually like this more than I probably should, it goes down wicked easy and is very thirst quenching, probably better for a hot summer day where I could pound a couple of these like nothing.

 754 characters

3.31/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

Poured into a pint glass.

Appearance: Dark orange , thin off white lacing.

Smell: Very sweet, berry

Taste: A lot of berries, a little tartness.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, light.

Overall: Not a bad summer beer. It is pretty sweet. I would have it again.

 249 characters

3.62/5  rDev +9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Straw color with a healthy, smooth, white head. Very good retention leaving a nice layer of lace.

S - Bready malt along with some banana. Hints of berry (blueberry and blackberry), not overly aggressive or artificial aroma. Hints of lemon. I go back and forth from enjoying it as a summer beer and not being all that into it. Somewhat reminiscent of a blueberry/lemon muffin.

T - Slightly more tart than the nose suggested (lemon and some berry tartness). Berry flavor is definitely present, it's not artificial but also not bursting with a fresh berry taste or a jam flavor. Solid bready malt flavor provides a good backbone but not too much sweetness.

M - Light to medium body. Pretty carbonated. Crisp with a slightly dry finish.

D - Pretty easy drinking beer. I kept going back and forth from really enjoying this beer to being ambivalent. It hits the marks for an easy summer drinker though.

Notes: Nice berry flavor that isn't artificial tasting. Not that is like some sours with tons of fruit flavor but it does the trick. Good balance with tartness. I kept being reminded of blueberry lemon muffins or a berry pie of some kind, but not in a "this is really sweet way." Good summer beer but not great.

 1,217 characters

3.5/5  rDev +5.4%

The CANQuest ™ leads to unscrupulousness at times and last night was one of them. Several of us had just been to a really rockin' show and we decided to hit up the newly renovated Horse Inn a few blocks away. Their new claim to fame under new ownership is having an unbeatable CAN selection. When you say that to me, I become deeply dubious, so I was anxious to see just what they had to offer, not expecting to find anything new. Lo and behold! I did not know that Magic Hat was CANning this beer, but I am not a huge fan of field reviews, either. Here in PA, beer may be purchased for takeaway at a bar, but not as a single. I asked anyway and Score-O! I know, I am going straight to Hell for all of this.

From the CAN: "A Golden Haze for Summer's Daze".

The Crack! showed that even Magic Hat is not holding back when it comes to brimful CANs. Knowing now why many of them do it, I am curious as to why they all do not fill their CANs this way. I got in an inverted Glug and then sat back to watch as the pseudo-cascade took place. The three fingers of dense, rocky, yellowish-white head was like meringue atop a pie! I kid you not, that was some of the thickest, densest head that I have enCANtered in a long time. It took forever to settle, also. Color was a cloudy (not hazy, sorry) Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7). Nose smelled like berries, but I would have guessed blueberries or the like because I just do not have much experience with elderberries. Lacing began to appear as the head fell. Mouthfeel was soft and medium. I liked the way the tartness of the wheat and the sweetness of the berries interacted to create a nice balance. I really felt like I was drinking liquid blueberry pie. Finish was semi-dry since the berries were not bringing that much sweetness to it. Once again, a good Summer beer.

 1,817 characters

3/5  rDev -9.6%

Pours yellow Orange not much head. Smells of Berries and Lemon. Only a Little lacing. Not much exciting about this beer it is refreshing but does not go enough on any point. I was very disappointed.

 198 characters

3.25/5  rDev -2.1%

Poured from a bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance: Golden color with a thin white head and a lot of carbonation. No lacing on the glass.

Smell: Citrus/hops with berry notes.

Mouthfeel/Taste: Smooth light bodied. Taste of hops with fruity citrus and berries and a tart aftertaste.

Overall: Ok brew. Glad I tried it.

 319 characters

3.5/5  rDev +5.4%

Although they're certainly not the first to do so, you've got to give Magic Hat at least a little bit of credit for originality in producing "Elder Betty", an elderberry weiss. The berry flavor comes through quite clearly, and adds an interesting secondary flavor that comes out in the lingering finish. The base beer is well-made, although basic, but that's clearly so as not to interfere with the berry flavor; and along those lines the bitterness is kept in check, and there are no hop flavors to speak of. It's interesting and refreshing, although I'm not sure you'd really want to have two of these in a row.

 614 characters

3.86/5  rDev +16.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Pours a light shade of amber. Very mild foam. This beer is well carbonated and bubbles like a champagne. I don't typically like fruit beers and didn't think I would like this one because Elder Berry is usually too tart for me. It was the perfect amount of tartness to make this beer taste like an ale with a cider-like touch to it. I would definitely enjoy a session with a six pack of this sometime, preferably on the beach.

 425 characters

3.65/5  rDev +9.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Poured from the 12 oz. bottle into a Lawson's tulip.

a: Clear dark gold with a half finger thick head which receded to thin surface foam and spotty lacing.'

s: Mild fruit cup.

t: Mild berry flavor over a light cracker malt base.

m: Light to medium, good body.

o: A refreshing summer brew with just enough subtle dark berry flavor while still letting you know it's beer.

 376 characters

2.95/5  rDev -11.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75

At first when I smelt this beer I thought I was going to enjoy it. I liked the blueberry smell it gave off personally, but with every sip the taste kind of went south. This is more of a summer outdoor beer (beach, picnic,etc...). Not the worst thing I have

 256 characters

3.27/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

A: cloudy; copper colored; 1 finger pillowy white head that receded slowly; moderate lacing;

S: wheat, yeast, strawberries;

T: wheat, yeast; ripe blueberries; a bit of tartness from mid-palate to finish;

M: light bodied; moderate carbonation;

O: refreshing and easy to drink;

 279 characters