Magic Hat Odd Notion Fall 09

Wow, so a lot has happened in the last month. I got married... moved... basically it's been busy. Now that I'm starting to get settled in, and have internet in our place, I figured it's time to start posting again. To make things even more interesting, I decided that tonight I'm going to crack a beer open that I've never tried before, and review it as I'm drinking. What's up for tonight is the 2009 Fall version of Magic Hat Odd Notion. Odd Notion is an interesting concept, like Stone's Vertical Epic, each time it's brewed it's a different style, although it seems like Magic Hat does a different one with each season rather than once a year. For Fall this year we have a Belgian Strong Dark ale, one of my favorite styles. I'm sitting here with the bottle, my Chimay glass, and a bottle opener ready to go.

The smell is sweet and fruity, reminiscent of plums and raisins. I feel like there's also a bit of alcohol in the smell, which I found a bit surprising considering that it's only 6.2% ABV. There's also a roasty, syrup, and licorice smell underneath.

The beer poured a fully black color. It's got a deep tan head that initially was a half finger thick, but dissipated quickly to a ring around the glass with a light dusting on the top of the beer. There's tiny bits of lacing on the glass.

The taste initially is a bit sweet and fruity in an interesting way. It's got a hint of banana, but with some taste of a darker fruit mixed in. It's also quite roasty on the front of the tongue, but once it hits the back of the mouth it tastes strongly of coffee and dark chocolate. It's got a lingering bitterness for minutes right on the back of the tongue. And suddenly I want some crackers and cheese. Mmm... smoked gouda and ritz crackers.

It's got a somewhat unusual feel in the mouth. It's very highly carbonated, actually overwhelmingly so. It's got a lighter body too, which is strange for such a dark beer. There's a little coating on the mouth, and a bit of warmth in the throat.

Overall, I'm not sure what to think. Stylistically it's all over the place, but I don't really care about that. It's got a good balance of flavors, nothing stands out too much except maybe the coffee flavors. However I'm not sure about the mix of flavors, and there's a little bit of a medicinal quality to it. I enjoyed it, but not as much as almost any Belgian Strong Dark I've had before. So, it's ok, not great, not terrible.

Brooklyn Local 2

Friday was the release party for the newest brew from Brooklyn Brewery, the Local 2.  Since the Local 1 was incredible, Dan and I had been looking forward to this beer since we heard it was in the works months ago.  The Local 2 is a Belgian Strong Dark Ale, weighing in at 9% ABV and putting it up against beers like Rochefort, Chimay Grande Reserve, and Gulden Draak.  That's some fierce competition to live up to.

The beer poured a deep, murky brown with reddish highlights.  It's head was a dirty brown color, 2-3 fingers thick, and frothy.  All in all, it's an attractive looking drink.  The head had good retention, sticking around for quite a while, and leaving some lacing on the glass.

The smell was fairly complex, and predominantly wild and sweet.  There was a tart smell, apple cider and spice that dominated the nose at first.  It then gave way to more grassy aromas - hay and other sweet plant smells, with a hint of flowers underneath.  The smell of honey comes through as well.  Even though it says it was brewed with citrus and honey, I didn't notice any citrusy smells, although it could have been masked by one of the other aromas.

The taste was initially round and sweet, with some of the hay flavors coming through as well.  I didn't notice citrus in the taste either, so it made me wonder what exactly was going on with that.  Still the smell was a fairly good indicator of the flavors of the beer, and I got some apple in the taste.  The one major surprise was the moderate level of bitterness present in the back of the mouth, leaving a rounded bitter aftertaste that sticks with you for a while.  However, there was a disturbing medicinal flavor, possibly from the honey, possibly from the alcohol, but it sat just around the edges of the flavor and reminded me of vicks vapo-rub or minty breath spray.  I tried to ignore it and just enjoy the beer, but it kept getting in the way for me.

In the mouth the beer sits somewhat thick, round, and heavy.  It's got a substantial feel to it.  The carbonation is moderately high, but round rather than sharp.  I found the carbonation a little distracting as I drank the beer, and I felt like this was contributing to the medicinal flavor somehow.  The beer was on the wet side, and at first was warming from the alcohol, especially in the throat.

I felt that this brew was a little bit of a chore to get down.  It's disappointing because I had such high hopes for it.  There were definitely some very good aspects to the flavor, but between the high carbonation and the medicinal quality I had a hard time focusing on them.  The sweetness was a little cloying, and the bitterness although unexpected did not offset it quite enough for my tastes.  As the glass progresses it gets a bit better as the carbonation drops off some.  I really enjoyed the wildness in the aroma and flavor too.  All in all it's decent, but not one I'd go out of my way for.  The balance just seems off.

- Adam

Dogfish Head Raison D'Extra

Dogfish Head is a craft brewery located in Milton, Delaware. They also have a restaurant in Rehobeth that serves their beers along with wood-grilled food that's a pretty amazing place. Their motto as brewers is "off-centered stuff for off-centered people" so when you try one of their beers, you know you can expect something different.

The Raison D'Extra is a higher alcohol content version of the Raison D'Etre. The D'Etre is brewed with green raisins, beet sugar, and Belgian style yeast. The D'Extra on the other hand is brewed with brown sugar, and weighs in at 18+% ABV. Our particular bottles were brewed in March 2007, so our January 1st tasting gave it nearly 2 years to age and continue fermenting.

The beer poured a reddish caramel color, with a slight haze to it from the yeast in the bottle. It had a 1 finger off white head with a nice foamy quality. The head dissipated fairly quickly, but it still left good lacing on the glass.

The aroma was sweet and malty. Initially it was dominated by a raisin smell, which isn't surprising given the ingredients. Underneath there's a definite hint of alcohol, but for being the strongest beer I've ever tried, it was well hidden. There was some traces of chocolate and caramel as well, but they were pretty muted. Overall, the smell was attractive, and not overly strong.

The taste was as sweet as the smell, and likewise the raisin flavor is predominant. Dan suggested that it was a white raisin flavor, and the beer definitely had some wine-like aspects to it. There was a definite burn to the beer as well, as expected given the high ABV. It was right in the middle of the throat that the warmth really got me, but it was a nice pleasing type of warmth that would be good on a cold night. There was also a nice light bitterness that finished the beer just in the back of the throat that stayed in the mouth for a while after swallowing. Dan and I both agreed that the beer was most similar to a brandy, both in strength and flavors. The one thing I noticed was missing from the taste was the metallic "Delaware water" flavor that I normally find with Dogfish beers. I was pretty happy about that fact, as it's usually the one issue I have with the flavor of stuff I've had from them.

The beer had a medium-heavy body that was somewhat syrupy in quality. The carbonation was moderate, with a light tingle on the tip of the tongue, and more roundness in the rest of the mouth. There was just a little bit of coating in the mouth, and it had a somewhat wet finish. Overall it was a substantial beer and complimented the warmth and strength of it well.

Overall, I would definitely recommend trying this if you manage to find it, but beware, it is strong! I wouldn't try drinking more than one of these in a night, and make sure you don't have to drive for a while after opening it. It's absolutely a winter ale, and not one for the weak of heart. I went from completely sober when I started this brew to feeling a good buzz halfway through, and finished it a bit tipsy - and I was drinking it pretty slow. Still it's not surprising since it's roughly 4 to 5 times as strong as the average beer.

- Adam