Magic Hat Fat Angel

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

Golden amber body topped by a medium thick head with good lace. Slightly sweet hopy aroma with a good malty balance. Slightly sweet hoppy flavor with a touch of lemon, a little maltiness and a bitter hoppy finish. Medium bodied and slightly dry. An average Pale Ale.

Bottle: Poured an amber looking ale with a nice huge head with good retention. Aroma is quite hoppy and some sweetness can be detected. Taste is quite sweet at first and includes a lot of malt with a medium dry finish. A bit of citrus taste (orange) is also included in here - orange This tastes more like an APA then English Pale Ale; anyway it is enjoyable but nothing to write home about.

Sampled at the brewery. Flat out average beer, although I liked more than most pale ales. Not overly hoppy, even though it is dry hopped. Nice copper color and no one "flavor" jumped out (slight citrus flavor comes though).

Draught at 11 Madison Park, New York. Golden colour with and attractive full-blown white head. Fruity aroma, grapefruit and apple. Had this in full black tie rig with Mikey on new years eve. Really enjoyed this little treat, particularly as it was part of and ebony / ivory tag team with ‘Turbodog’.

Bottle (rating from August 2005 notes). A golden amber color with a white head. Dusty and lightly hopped. Fairly thin with little malt complexity.

"Expand your View with Things that are New", the cap tells me. Do they have the Cat in the Hat writing these things? Well, this beer is new to me, so I’ll expand away...though I must say I was baffled and prepared for a let-down with the phrase, "a paler shade of pale." I’ve given up trying to make sense of this brewery’s design and verbiage (this beer’s name, the flying pig of the label), and surrendered to my sense of the surreal. Appearance: hazy, pale apricottish color, with a sturdy collar of white foam. Aroma: fresh and fruity, apricot, peach, a whiff of citrus, a mess of hops. Taste: hops come first, a big, bold, buzzing bracket of them, blitzing the tongue and clinging to the palate. Those same fruity flavors recurr, also, ably matched with tasty malt. Hops never quit...body is medium, texture quit nice, ...finish is adequate, just so, quick and dry. All in all, if I were a New Englander, I’d be quite satisfied if this was a barroom staple like SNPA is..nice session brew.

Wow. How uninspiring. Medium amber, slight head fades entirely. Bready biscuit aroma, light hops as well. Flavor matched, hops providing only a faint floral and citric note. Harsh on the tongue as well. Not particularly good.

POurs a honey color with a medium light yellow head that quickly disappears. Nose is of barley. Very mild hoppiness at the start and throughout. Im not so sure why the brewer says its a complex taste. A very watery beer that barely resembles a Pale Ale. This would be a good starter for someone who's not a big pale ale fan.