This evening's review is going to be short and sweet. Battlefield 3 officially released today at 12:01am, so being a HUGE Battlefield Bad Company 2 fan, I'm pretty damn excited to play this game. It's days like today that I yearn for the college days of limited responsibility and tons of extra time....
Tonight I'll be drinking "a beer cloaked in secrecy" - #9 Not Quite Pale Ale from Magic Hat Brewing in South Burlington, VT. This is an English-style pale ale that uses Cascade and Apollo hops, and registers 5.1% alcohol. The brew comes in a 12oz bottle with a funkadelic swirling maze that forms the number 9. Magic Hat throws little quips under their bottle caps - this one says "A good sneeze can knock you on your knees".
The beer is a slightly hazy, light golden color with a fairly big head on top. The aroma is loaded with apricots. Also some sweet butter and adjuncts - bits of corn and rice. The flavor starts off with a boatload of crisp, dry apricot. Really fruity! It's certainly apparent the fruit flavor was added in - it's really up-front and a bit unnatural. The carbonation is insane - this is a bubbly champagne-style delivery. There's a very mild hop bitterness in the background, hardly noticeable. The finish is clean and dry.
Overall Rating: This is an odd beer. I've never had anything quite like it - definitely suits the name. Apricot is the star of the show - if you like apricots, you'll probably like this beer... otherwise, you'll want to steer clear. For my part, it wasn't anything special, but certainly refreshing and I did finish the bottle. B-
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