The idea of Magic Hat began where so many good ideas before it began: in a bathtub. This bathtub, located on Vermont’s Goddard College campus and devoid of a plaque of recognition, is where Bob Johnson brewed his first batch of beer. After years of honing his craft, Bob was finally ready for the big time. Soon after he realized his readiness, he re-met Alan Newman, a serial entrepreneur with whom Bob had worked in a past life. Bob told Alan of his plans and before a handshake could take place, the two were jet-setting to the West Coast for research.
Upon their return to Burlington, Bob and Alan began their search for a space to call their own. That search landed them in an abandoned factory on Flynn Avenue in Burlington’s South End, where Bob would finally brew Bob’s First, Magic Hat’s debut ale and, soon after, the first batches of #9, Fat Angel and Blind Faith.
Admin Note: In July 2020, Magic Hat sold their production facility and broke ties with the state of Vermont. All beers are brewed at the FIFCO owned Genesee Brewing facility in Rochester, NY.
Orange hued ale with no head. Light malty floral hops nose, with notes of wild roses. Very smooth and light BW, with seducing hops. Rather light in body, but well balanced. It is good, but not worth the 20$ asking price. Un gros merci a Dumdum!
Slightly hazy amber coloured body with a super-thin white head. Aroma of slightly spiced malt, fresh grapefruit hops and some light apricot scents. Light-bodied; Mild hoppy taste, some caramely malt and a subtle fruityness that is present. Aftertaste is not strong enough to even taste. Overall, a pretty bland & dissatisfying beer. I still thank my brother-in-law Andy for this beer! I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased in Dupont Circle South in Washington, D.C. on 07-December-2004.
Pitch black with a thinnish tan head. Aroma of alcohol, roasted malt, sherry, port and smokey scents. Medium-bodied; Strong chocolate flavour with a good bitter coffee aftertaste. Overall, a decent beer but not the greatest. I sampled this beer from a 75 cL wierd bottle after the RB party at Founder’s in Alexandria, Virginia at Mike’s (the_beer_god) hotel room on 20-November-2004.
Bottle: Poured orangey color ale with almost no head or carbonation. Aroma is quite weak but I can distinguish some sweet fruity flavour and some malt. Taste is almost indescribable, like a mix between some poorly grown apricot (lacking flavour and sweetness) and malt that doesn’t do any favour to this mix. Like all fruit beer, they can be a wonderful experience when correctly balanced or a complete disaster when things go wrong, such as this case was. Almost needs to wonder if this was a bad bottle.
Bottle: Poured a medium black color ale with a medium head that disappeared way too fast. Aroma is comprised of roasted malt (probably some oatmeal). Taste is also dominated by roasted malt, so much that I almost though I was drinking a light stout, and the end was also bitter. Overall, this is an average beer that seems to sit between two style (Irish ale and dry stout).
Thanks to ClarkVV for this one. Deep amber color with a large off white head. Aroma of caramel and brown sugar. Mildly sweet with not much hop bitterness. Flavor and palate are more like a Brown Ale or a Mild. Good drinkable brew, but nothing really exciting here.
Dark dark brown coloured body with a nice thinnish light brown head and strong crimson highlights when held up to a light-nice for the style! Aroma of roasted malt, smoked peat, a bit of coffee and a light nuttiness. Medium to Light-bodied; Sweet vanilla taste up front with a light coffee twang and a metallic flavour that lasts a while. Fades off to a bitter, thin feeling beer. Aftertaste doesn’t have much in pleasant tastes-this one is lacking in duration. Overall, yet another Magic Hat i’ve been disapointed with. I haven’t really enjoyed one of their beers, and this is upsetting, since has the highest score when I rated it it out of all the ones i’ve tried. Overall, I can’t seem to figure out why everyone likes this one so much. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle pulled from a holiday sampler pack at a package store just south of dupont circle in Washington, D.C. on 29-November-2004.
Stunning deep dark ruby brown color under a toffee head that disappeared quickly. Nutty caramel aroma. Sweet with a slightly tangy finish. Could use a little more body, but at 4%, this could be a lot worse.
Near opaque with mild lacing - smells like dark roast coffee with french vanilla creamer added - taste is similar to the heart of darkness stout, but the vanilla really sets it apart - it melds very well with the roasted malts and sweetened black coffee flavors of the beer - the finish nearly loses me, tasting almost like vanilla extract and aspartame, but otherwise this is a solid ale.
Light amber in color, pretty decent lace - very piney aroma, with a solid amount of hops a light bready malts - hops from the aroma are practically non-existent in the flavor, but it is decently balanced - a hint of caramel on top of roasty malts and a mild bitterness to balance out its sweeter side - nothing great or deserving of the special status, but still pretty good - its a damn shame that I had to buy the holiday twelve pack to try this - hopefully the Ravell I have waiting in the fridge will make it worthwhile.