202. Magic Hat Lucky Kat IPA

“Beer kitty, kitty!”

Magic Hat Brewing Company is in South Burlington, VT. I’m still pissed that they stopped making Fat Angel—not only is that a sweet name, it was a sweet beer. I’m not sure Lucky Kat makes up for Fat Angel, but...

Lucky Kat has a flat caramel nose, and not much else in terms of aroma. The color is a cloudy dark copper with an ivory head. Elli’s cantankerous nature was in full swing this evening—her response to “how does this start?” was “well, first, I pick up my glass.” Lucky Kat starts with a big rounded malt sweetness—there are good amounts of caramel and biscuit playing across the palate—before moving into a dry flat malt taste with low levels of bitterness and some slight spicy hop flavor in the middle, and ending with a return of the caramel flavors with a biscuit undertone, but not much in the way of bitterness. Lucky Kat is medium-bodied with a medium-to-low level of carbonation—it doesn’t play a large part in the overall mouthfeel. As a whole, there is a good malt profile—the biscuit and caramel flavors are well developed—but it needs a larger hop presence to justify the IPA label. And how does it finish? “Well, when I’m done, I put my glass down, and decide if I want another.” Smartass.

From the Magic Hat website: “Lucky Kat purrs as he pours with a grin on his mangy face and a grin in his searching eye. He sits on the fence he calls home, dividing up from down. Is he an imperial beast or a pale soul from the east? Only he knows and we know only this: if you reach out to pet him he'll bite back with a big, hoppy kiss.”

Man, forced rhyming AND tedious prose. Everyone knows that those two are two great tastes that taste great together.

ABV: 5.8%

IBU: 60

OG: 14.2° P

Malts: Pale, Munich, Crystal, & Cara

Hops: Amarillo & Crystal

(1/18/2010)

118. Long Trail Blackbeary Wheat

Our third beer from Long Trail, and the second in three days (DIPA and IPA). We’d like to start by observing that this beer has one of the best labels ever. The nuance of artwork in the picture—we’ve got a bear who is about to get roller-pinned for stealing pie—is, well, downright priceless. Not only is he wearing glasses and making the “oh” face because he thinks he’s about to get away with something, he’s got a magical floating bow tie that matches his suspenders. But that’s just the beginning: coupled with the slightly phallic placement of the beer bottle and hand, the stolen pie takes on potential new meaning, as does the female bear’s angry response with the rolling pin—she has the classic angry line shaped eyes, indicating her ire at the pie-stealing, pleased with himself, sporting a beer bottle woody bear. Not to get all psychoanalytic on all y’all, but this label is truly a work of art.

Blackbeary Wheat is a brilliant straw color with a light white head. The nose combines elements of dry lager malt characteristics, fruit and jammy blackberry aromas, and a slightly metallic fruit smell. Blackbeary Wheat starts with a light and crisp malt front—almost lagerish—and then moves into a subtle but pleasant fruitiness in the middle with light but clear blackberry flavors. The finish is rather clean with some crispness, although the fruitiness lingers. Blackbeary Wheat has a light, soft, but crisp mouthfeel—it is both lively and brisk with a pleasant carbonation bite and clean palate flavors. Light bodied—it is light enough to be either a lager or a dry cider—but simultaneously exhibiting a substantial depth of flavor, Blackbeary Wheat is a well balanced beer. The fruit flavors are enjoyable, but do not dominate, and the beer is dry and clean with crisp taste on the palate. Deceptively complex for such a light clean fruit beer, Blackbeary Wheat is an excellent and thoroughly enjoyable beer. And an easy Top 10 Best Label contender.

From the bottle: “Blackbeary Wheat features 2-row malt, crystal, plenty of malted wheat, and is finished with a hint of blackberries in the kettle. >6 carbs!”

From the Long Trail website: “Light & refreshing with a hint of blackberry at the finish makes this beer a real thirst quencher! This brew combines 2-Row Pilsen and of course plenty of malted wheat.”

ABV: 4.0%
IBU: 8
Malts: Two-Row and Wheat
Hops: Nugget

(10/26/2009)

116. Long Trail IPA

Our second beer from Long Trail; our last one was the Long Trail DIPA.

Long Trail IPA has a low malt and light floral hope nose along with a bit of mustiness; the color is hazy golden with a creamy white head that laces the glass well down the sides. Opening with a light malt sweetness, Long Trail IPA moves into a big bitter middle and then finishes dry with a little sourness. The body is light to medium, and the carbonation is bright with a nice bite to it. There is also some dryness and puckering in the mouth via the hop bitterness. A good beer overall; it could use more of a malt body to set up the beer, and more complexity and balance between the malt and hop profile—the dimensions are a bit limited. The mix between English IPA hopping—tons of bitterness and no real hop flavor or hop aroma—and a more neutral American IPA malt profile doesn’t work as well as it could, leaving the beer interesting but not super exciting.

From the bottle: We’ve brewed our filtered IPA for 13 years, and never considered offering the REAL (unfiltered) version that is naturally carbonated just as it comes out of our fermenters. Well here it is! We hope you enjoy our REAL IPA.”

From the Long Trail website: “Real IPA, as it ws first brewed in the days of the British Empire, was not the carefully filtered brew that we call IPA today. The first IPAs were unfiltered and featured extra hops and higher strength as a preservative for the long trip from England to the colony of India. Our traditional IPA is naturally carbonated, dry-hopped & unfiltered like the old days.”

ABV: 5.9%
IBU: 56
Malts: Two-Row and Crystal
Hops: Nugget and Cascade

For our sixth BJCP class, the focus was on hops. Besides discussing the different uses of hops within the boil—bittering, flavoring, and aroma—we looked at the different types of packaging for hops (leaf, pellet, plug, extracts, and oils), and different hop varieties. After running through the European, English, and American hop varieties, we had an interesting discussion about the similarities and differences between American and English IPAs, and how hop use and hop choice influenced and affected those styles. A good time was had by all....

Our fine fine sampling beers for the day included dark ales:
12A. Brown Porter: Sam Smith’s Famous Taddy Porter
12B. Robust Porter: Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald
12C. Baltic Porter: Baltika Porter
13A. Dry Stout: Guinness
13B. Sweet Stout (Milk or Cream): Left Hand Milk Stout
13C. Oatmeal Stout: Samuel Adams Oatmeal Stout
13D. Foreign Extra Stout: Lion Stout (Tropical-Type)
& Guinness Foreign Extra Stout (Export-Type)
13E. American Stout: we didn’t try this one—8 is enough
13F. Russian Imperial Stout: I think the Lion Stout was supposed to be this, but in reviewing the BJCP style guidelines, I’ve moved it up to where it is supposed to be. Don’t worry—part two of my day should take care of any loose threads...

So after the BJCP class, I went home to rest up for the Miami Valley Beerfest, which focused on big beers and barley wines. Class ended at noon, and this started at two, so basically, my only real goal was to eat a big meal and drink lots of non-alcoholic fluids...this was going to be a long long day of drinking.

What I sampled:
Allagash Curiex (Bourbon Barrel Tripel)
Brewdog/Mikkeller Divine Rebel (Barley Wine)
Brooklyn Monster (Barley Wine)
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron (American Brown Ale)
Founders Old Curmudgeon (Old Ale)
Great Divide Hercules Double IPA (Imperial IPA)
Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout (Imperial Stout)
Green Flash Imperial IPA (Imperial IPA)
Harviestoun Ola Dudh 12 Year (Old Ale)
Harviestoun Ola Dubh 30 Year (Old Ale)
Harviestoun Ola Dubh 40 Year (Old Ale)
Ithaca Brute (American Wild Ale)
J. W. Lees Calvados (Barley Wine)
J. W. Lees Lagavulin (Barley Wine)
Jolly Pumpkin Madrugada Obscura Dark Dawn Stout (Sour Stout)
Kiuchi Hitachino XH (American Strong Ale)
Stone/Brewdog/Cambridge Juxtaposition (Black Imperial Pilsner)
Victory Hop Wallop (Imperial IPA)
Widmer Cherry Oak Doppelbock (Doppelbock)

I also had some Goose Island Bourbon County Stout via Aaron, but that wasn’t on the record, if you know what I’m saying.

My notes are pretty spotty, especially as the day progressed. Juxtaposition was not as good as I expected, and neither was Madrugada Obscura. I liked the Ola Dubh 30 Year better than the 40 Year. The peatiness of the J. W. Lees Lagavulin was very nice, but could use some aging, so if I can score some more of that, I’ll throw it in the cellar for a bunch of years and see what happens. Divine Rebel and Old Curmudgeon got good marks, but the rest was mostly a blur of tasty tasty beery goodness.

All told, this puts me at 29 beers for the day. Let’s hope this is a record that stands for a while—I walked home and after this and made good friends with my couch for several hours...

(10/24/2009)

106. Long Trail Double IPA

Long Trail Brewing Company is in Bridgewater Corners, VT; this beer is part of their Brewmaster Series, which includes an Imperial Porter, and most recently an Imperial Coffee Stout. This series is also re-releasing (finally!) Pollenator, their spring seasonal from 1997-2003. When in grad school in Buffalo, road trips to Vermont were planned every year to score Pollenator and some Blackbeary Wheat.

Long Trail’s DIPA is a cloudy light tan color with a creamy ivory head. The malty hoppy nose brings with it both bready malt aromas and citrus and floral hops notes. Opening soft and creamy with bready malt sweetness and some alcohol flavor, Long Trail DIPA moves into a middle characterized mainly by hop bitterness, and finishes dry and clean with a bit of lingering bitterness and some slight chalkiness. There is a rich and creamy mouthfeel with a substantial body that does carry some light alcohol warmth. The carbonation is clean and brisk, and there is some dryness in the mouth from both the bitterness and the chalkiness. Overall, a nice balance in the body between malt & hops; it is not overly cloying or sweet like some DIPAs. The sweetness is about right, but some more hop flavor would be enjoyable—besides the hop aroma, the hop profile seems more English than American. This is, however, one of the more drinkable DIPAs we’ve come across, and we hope to run into some more soon.

From the Long Trail website: “Long Trail Double IPA offers true reward to those seeking intensely sensual hop flavor. Double IPA is a full-flavored ale featuring a good malt backbone combined with an aroma brimming with tantalizing citrus and pine notes. In search of inspiration within, the recipe is sourced from one of Long Trail’s own hop-enthusiast home brewers!”

ABV: 8.6%
IBU: 100+

Malts: Two-row, Crystal, and Wheat

Hops: Chinook and Cascade

(10/14/2009)