Magic Hat Fat Angel

Formerly brewed at Magic Hat Brewing Company
Style: English Pale Ale
South Burlington, Vermont USA

Deep hazy orange copper with a thin white head, Slight butterscotch nose with some hops. Sweet malts, some hops, little citrus, but some green apples. Nice, but I had better from the Hat.

Head is initially small, frothy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy light amber. Aroma is moderately hoppy (pine, resin, grapefruit), lightly malty (cookie). Flavor is moderately sweet, moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, heavily bitter. Light to medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation, lightly astringent. Pretty stark, thin, and somewhat unbalanced.

Absolutely uninteresting; slightly stronger flavored than, say, Bud, but not really more exciting. ’Vermont’s finest’ certainly doesn’t mean this beer; or, in general, this brewer (July 01) Update much the same only this time I found the body really watery -- a weak offering from a very overrated brewer (Dec 01) Update 2 (Apr 02) had this on tap and found it significantly better; still not the most characterful or distinctive brew, but very very fresh, crisp, and with a nice flavor profile that gradually segues (love that word) from fruity (apple?) sweetness into just enough hoppiness to keep you awake. In short, an eminently drinkable lighter Pale.

Solid somewhat spicy hop aroma. Clear golden amber colour with small white receding head with some lacing. Nice malty pale ale with good balancing bitterness and a cereal flavour in the finish with some residual spiciness. Mouthfeel is creamy and fairly full for this medium-bodied beer. If this was available here, I could see myself drinking it with some regularity. A very tasty session beer. It would be nice if it retained a bit more head. On tap at the brewery and bottled.

Bottle: A deep amber hue with a frothy head and okay lace. The aroma has notes of aromatic and grassy hops, biscuity malt, currant and plum, and English Breakfast tea. The taste is a tad fruity and back by layers of muddled bitterness. A flabby beer that does not do much and is even a tad medicinal. In your ambiguous world they gave us this ambiguous beer.

Poured a clear amber with a thin white head. Big butterscotch/diacetyl aroma. Some caramel underneath. Too bad this wasn’t an ice cream sundae. Butterscotch in the flavor as well with a light bitter finish. Thin body.

A hoppy pale ale, akin to an IPA. Carbonation on the aggressive tongue tingle side. Malty nominally satisfying aftertaste. British style. Bit of bitterness. Orange citrus and peach flavors from the hops.

Bottle (12oz). Shared with blankboy, GregClow and tupalev - out of 2005 Magic Hat 12-pack. Poured mostly clear light copper, not much of a head. Aroma of sour, sharp grainy vegetal malt - I didn’t like it at all, although it smoothed out some on warming. Taste of slightly stale grapefruit pith hop bitterness, some very lightly roasted malt, quite a bit of grain - I was suprised that the vegetal nose didn’t translate to the taste. Average body and slightly astringent mouthfeel. Overall, apart from the nose, this is pretty decent.