Name: Magic Hat Lucky Kat
Brewed By: Magic Hat Brewery
Brewed In: Burlington, VT
Brewed With: Pale, Munich, Crystal malts, English ale yeast strain
Type: India Pale Ale
ABV: 5.8%
What they say: “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.”
Website: Already addressed in previous posts.
Why this one, Show?: Well, it’s part of the Magic Hat Summer 09 pack, so I guess I kind of had to drink/review it. To be honest, while I’ll never pick an IPA over another kind of beer, I tend not to treat them as though they’re Xenomorph blood. Plus, it’s Magic Hat—I know enough that they’re not going to include some overhopped nonsense in with the rest of these beers.
First Thoughts:
Head: Thin, off-white, little thin lace cling.
Nose: Fresh, hop flowery, light citrus, bready, bit of sweet at the back.
Color: Dark straw.
Presentation (5): The Lucky Kat label boasts a big purple Cheshire cat graphic with “Lucky Kat” written in stylized white font as the teeth. The rest of the bottle remains the same as the past two: the ¾ pint ale, the ABV, website address, and beer name. As compared to the rest of the pack, it’s not the most graphic-intensive. 3
Originality (5): IPAs go back to the 18th century. That’s really all one needs to know about them. There’s nothing here like “200 lbs of hops per barrel!” or something like that. As far as originality goes, this really doesn’t have it. 1
Body (10): Pretty medium-to-full-bodied. The hops tingle the tongue and leave a trace after the swallow. The hops don’t overwhelm the malts, which are evident in the first half of the sip. It’s got a very crisp feel to it. I feel like I could drink a few pints of this and not feel like I just ate a loaf of bread with a layer of nettles on top. 7
Taste (10): I know this is verboten around these parts, but for an IPA, I like this. There’s some hop taste, but it’s not overwhelmingly bitter. There’s some citrus flavors, some earth notes, and some flavors of bread. Of course, this being a pale ale, there is some hop bitterness at the back of the sip. There’s enough malt sweetness and other citrus-y, crisp flavors that I’m calling this a nice-tasting brew. At the risk of getting censured, I like it. 8
Efficiency (10): I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s some sort of chemical thing, but IPAs for some reason “get” to me faster than other beers. With a 5.8% ABV, this is potent, but not crazy-strong. Going through the three of these in the pack would probably make you feel pretty lucky yourself, punk. 8
Versatility (10): Since it’s part of a 12-pack, you can kind of lump its versatility in with the rest. IPAs are pretty good summer/warm weather beers, being quite refreshing if you can stand the bitterness. I feel that this is a good addition to the summer pack—being the lone bitter beer amongst the 4 options, there will definitely be someone at the cookout that’s happy you brought the IPA. It’s probably not going to be any one of our writers, though. 8
Final Score: 35 – Good Beer
Related posts:
- What You Didn’t Drink This Weekend: Ipswich Summer Ale
- Friday Beer Snob: Saranac Adirondack Trail Mix Series — India Pale Ale
- What You Didn’t Drink This Weekend: JosephsBrau Summer Brew
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