Magic Hat Odd Notion - American Sour Ale (Winter 09)

Brewed by Magic Hat Brewing Company
Style: Sour Ale
South Burlington, Vermont USA

bottle poured a caramel amber in color with a thin off white head that fizzled off quickly. aroma has sweet malt, musty wood, and a faint tartness. mouth feel is light and there is plenty of carbonation. flavor has some light acidic tartness,sour cherry, yeast, pale malt, and a creeping bite on the finish. overall it is a little thin and watery but I do give credit to introducing this to the mixed 12 packs and getting this out to a lot of people who otherwise might never try a sour.

Hazy brown-red-orange, off white cover. Aroma is an ugly sweetness, metal. Taste is light tartness, cherry, sweet mostly.

bottle. Phil. I told you. Magic Hat and I are through. I don’t want any more of their products. Why did you give this to me? I warned you in a previous beermail that I do not want to consume any more Magic Hat beer. I was straightforward and clear about that. I gave you good beer. rare beer. Nonetheless, you placed Magic Hat Odd Notion "sour ale" in my possession. You guilted me into drinking it. Boy, the joke is on me. What the hell is this? It smells remarkably like Budweiser, just times two. I actually didn’t realize just how sour BMC smells and tastes until its character was amplified in this ramped up "sour ale." I mean, I like good sour ales. I drank some pretty good sour ale with you at Union Jack’s. The Bam Noire. Remember that? That was pretty good! It had some distinct bretty funk, some fruity complexity. . .this. . .this Odd Notion. . it sure is odd. One dimensional. . .sour corn dimension. God. I do not want to drink this. I am never paying money for Magic Hat again. Yes, this was free. I felt obligated to try it. Man. Dammit. Phil, please, next time I tell you not to give me Magic Hat, just do me a favor and spare me.

Bottle. Pours brown, clear, with a medium cola-type fizzy head. Aroma is wood, caramel, and malty sweetness. Flavor is definitely sour, with some caramel and raisin, apple in finish. I don’t like it at all.

Pours a hazy, dark brown with a big, off-white, foamy head that gradually settles down to a couple of bubbles on the top of the beer. Aroma has a strong husky graininess to it, a watered down brown ale nutty note and a very low/mild sour note. Flavor starts off with a very watery grainy presence with a very quite low sweetness and slight nutty ending. The sour presence is there but not strong and is overall watered down. A mild carbonic bite at the end tail adds a dryness to the brew. Thin body, high carbonation and a dry. Overall, I love the idea of crafting a unique brew for each of the seasons to keep their mixer packs interesting. This beer, even though unique and represents a styling that I think is under produced to for beer drinkers, did not live up any of my expectations. The sourness was week, the beer body was watery, the flavor unbalanced and watered down. Props for trying it out but this was just a mess of a beer.

Tell ya what, this head doesn’t stick around long. Wet lacing. Orange-brown color, looks murky. Aroma of sour apples, spice, and yeast. Flavor predominantly spice and a weird, almost puckery sourness made nearly inpalatable by an over-immersion in oak chips. My opinion, anyway.

Serving: 12 oz. bottle. Pours brown with a decent off-white head. Faint nose with slight sour notes. The taste just strikes me as odd. Light on the tongue with strange sour notes. Finishes relatively clean though. In terms of sours, this isn’t a good one.

Bottled. Poured medium brown with a creamy, well-retained off-white head. The aroma picked up toasted, bready malts topped by some vegetal notes.. maybe a little garbage on the back.. not enticing at all. The flavor found caramel, chocolate, and biscuit sweetness at the core.. vanilla and oaky sourness around.. mild medicinal/vinegary sourness on the finish.. not very good. Lighter-bodied and sweeter than it was sour on the palate.. not a whole lot of good in here.