Magic Hat Chaotic Chemistry

Aged Barley Wine - 10.8 % Alc/Vol - Aged 36 months in bourbon casks. Hand bottled and hand written label info including bottling date, batchnumber, bottle number and brewer.

3.6

152 reviews

South Burlington, United States

Community reviews

3.0 Sampled at Max’s Taphouse in Baltimore. Pours a dark, translucent, reddish amber with basically zero head. Malty aroma with vanilla, oak and bourbon. Flavor is similar with more vanilla and oak, plenty of wood pulp and bourbon. Harsh alcohol finish.

2.5 Draft at Flatbread, All you can smell and taste is the bourbon. If there is a beer hiding in here you did a good job to mask it. When do we taste the barley wine?

3.6 On tap at Magic Hat Night at American Flatbread. Special batch? It tasted youngish barleywine, it masked the alcohol. The baley was in the smell. A noticeable head, and some lace. Dark, pretty.

3.7 Tap at Blind Tiger. This one is clearly divisive. One ugly pour... muddy dark brown with no head in sight. Aroma is loaded with oak and bourbon. Sweet and caramelly with a nice toasted/charred oak sweetness and a massive amount of vanilla. Sweetish malts along with some light fruits. Loads of sweet bourbony flavour as well. Vanilla, rye spiciness and a bit of alcohol. I like it.

2.8 On tap at Blind Tiger in NYC. If I liked bourbon I probably would’ve like this more, but I don’t like bourbon. Pours murky hazy brown with a small off-white head. The aroma has lots (correction LOTS ) of overly sweet bourbon. There seems to be a hint of caramel-like malt, but I can’t be sure due to all of the bourbon. Full / thick body with very little carbonation. The flavor starts with lots of bourbon, tons of sugary sweetness, some musty caramel malt and some wood from the barrel aging. If you like overly sweet bourbon this may be for you. I don’t care much for bourbon, and at the bottom of my list is excessively sweet bourbons. Glad I didn’t have too much of this trainwreck.

1.9 Tap at Blind Tiger. An absolutely phenominally bad brew. I had a feeling going into this, seeing the 3 years in bourbon casks, that this would suck. I was right. Tastes like shitty watered down bourbon. There is no beer left here at all. Magic Hat would’ve been better off just barrel-aging sugary water for 3 years. Would’ve saved them and us money. No complexity whatsoever, and a ton of alcohol burn. Yuck.

4.1 Bottle shared by puddintane. Dark brown pour with a thin light tan film. Aroma of vanilla, bready malt, caramel, booze soaked fruits, and oak. Flavors of rasin, vinous fruits, booze and caramel malt. Thick body, boozey/malty/vinous with a sweet/malty finish.

3.8 Dark honey, spicy. Dark orangey color with a medium creamy tan head. Sweet and cidery - apple like. Mellow, especially appley in the aftertaste. Brandylike in the aftertaste.

4.3 3rd Annual Woodshop Tasting, 3/1/08. Thanks Chris! This was hidden in his "non-rare" room. I was stoked on it...and sure enough, it delievered hard! Intensely sweet, sticky bourbon,lolli-pop, rich oak and vanilla, caramelly wood. Reminiscent of BA Numbskull. Awesome!!!

4.3 Tasted at 2008 Woodshop hosted by cquiroga. Wow. Sweet delicious malty goodness. No carbonation. Kind of like thick brandy elixer. Yum. I wonder why it is not rated highly? Maybe people don’t like sweet as much as meet. Maybe they needed to age it a little. Hmm. Anyway, cool bottle.

4.2 2004 vintage sampled at cquiroga’s 3rd Annual Woodshop Tasting. This is some dank sh*t right here. Hell yeah. The beer exhibited one of the most intense barrel characters I’ve had in a while. Pours very still like brandy, no head or any carbonation for that matter. Insane bourbon barrel aroma, displaying notes of charred wood, coconut and vanilla. More wood and bourbon in the flavor, with caramel malts, brandy and cocoa powder. Elegant palate that finishes mellow with sustained warming bourbon, this would serve as a great aperitif. Wow.

4.1 30th Rating from 3rd Annual Woodshop tasting in Temple City, CA. 3/1/08. One hell of a day put on by Cquiroga, thanks for a killer day Chris. Also spent the day there with bikesanbeer, my girlfriend Cyn, wetherel, JohnC, DenverLogan, dirty_martini, jasparg, DrBil, IPAFiend, awaisanen and many others, this was one crazy day. 2004 Vintage 750. Best Beer I’ve had form Magic Hat, Period. Pours amber with no head. Big sweet nose, Taste is sweet adn big and nice and crazy. very very good.

3.8 Amber Colour. Not much head. Citrus & Hops combine nicely and give a nice warm glow. Surprising, really since the bottle is 4 years old.

2.2 Draft sampling at State Line. Pour was murky brown with reddish hues, fairly generous tannish colored head, recarbonated after aging? The aroma was an overpowering strong bourbon/brandy, smelled many feet away from the glass. Drawing the glass close to the nose, really it was hard to detect much else going on underneath, some fruitiness, but that could have just been elements from what I’m calling the brandy/bourbon itself. The flavor was unexciting, unless you wanted a shot of Brandy/Bourbon. I couldn’t even tell what the base beer style was (light oak, vanilla, and honey also present), the liquor was so overwhelming. This is one of the finest examples of the overdone aging in liquor/wine barrels. Robert, thanks a bunch for the experience, still a fun tasting and it certainly wasn’t a drain pour - just not a beer?

3.7 NOTB; as golubj mentioned this was almost too much. Seems like it was bourbon with some barley wine influence. Not bad tasting, but just a little too aggressive.

3.4 EBF NOTB. There was just an absurd amount of bourbon in the aroma for this one. I found it distasteful. The flavor has a little czech hops, but I can’t taste much beyond the bourbon.

3.7 Shared by puddintane. Lots of honey in the aroma with some wood--very mead like. Almost black body with no head. Full palate. Strong malt flavor, boozy tastes with some honey and oak again. Interesting.

4.3 Bottle shared by puddintane: Pours a dark brown with a thin white head. Aroma, woody and oaky, some vanilla and caramel notes. Flavor, caramel, brown sugar, oaky and woody, a dry finish. Also some earthy notes, and dark fruits, some vanilla. This was pretty good.

3.2 750ml, bottling date of 1/1/04, hand signed and numbered (#1558). I received this some time ago (Summer of ’04, IIRC) from Volgon, and it’d been in the cellar ever since. Aroma is just dripping with bourbon making this is the predominant character, accompanied by suggestions of dried apricot, fig, orange, red grape and toffee, along with some light spice and herbal tones. Deep burnt orange color, mostly clear, with a fully subsiding head, no lacing to note. Flavor profile is similarly rife with bourbon, not that this is a bad thing by in itself, but it does seem to cover virtually all other aspects of the flavor, as these are relatively faint by comparison. About all that exists outside of this are the faint toasty malts, tobacco notes, a light dried fruit character, and touches of honey and caramel. Finish is warming, tangy and generously alcoholic, some light acidity. I’d be very curious to see what this beer is like outside of any barrel aging as I found the prevalence of the bourbon character a bit too overwhelming. Regardless, some points for uniqueness.

3.8 2004 750 ml bottle. Thanks to eyedrinkale for this in a face to face trade in Denver. Lots of dark fruit and molasses in the aromas and flavors. Some alcohol in the finish. Pretty tasty though

3.4 ’04 Bottle shared by Indra at his tasting 12/7/07. This was one of the cooler looking bottles that I’ve seen: painted black with a silk screened, golden lemniscate ouroboros (see photo above). Unfortunately the beer contained within turned out to be less impressive. While it wasn’t bad, I think that all three of us that remained to share it were hoping for a little "more". It pours a deep, reddish blush with a tiny, creamy, off-white skin at the surface. It had none of the large billowy head that I associate with barley wines. The nose was floral with a big malt backing and notes of pear and light bourbon. Light to medium-bodied and slick it concluded with a quick, dry finish; a bit unusual for the style. The flavor was fairly bourbon forward, sweet and fruity with a malty brown sugar body that finishes lightly woody. Not a bad beer, but far from being a great barley wine. I am glad, however, to have gotten a chance to try this one. Thank you for sharing this with us, Eric!

3.5 Thanks Eric! [b]2004[/b] 750ml bottle. Malty aroma with cookie dough, oak barrel, light bourbon, and some char. Taste is caramelly, tannic oak, bourbon, alcohol, sweet honey, and some citrus. A little warm.

4.1 Ages 36 months? Wow! Thanks to Neil Y. for this nice offering. Poured a dark ruby-blackish body. Ghostly head. Boozy, honey and molasses notes. Oaky, earthy, spicy, and turbid at the bottom. Cork was hard to remove. This is a wonderful brew. Reminded me a lot of Utopias from Samuel Adams, but less potent (still quite potent at 10.8%!)

3.8 great white thick head. dark orangish clear color. smooth and fruity flavor up front (cherry, pineapple, slightly sour) balanced by woodiness and vanilla. finishes bitter, dry, crisp. interesting beer.

2.5 In short: Weird ultra-sweet dill/caramel/maple syrup mixture. Not for me. How: Montreal-crew sour-beer tasting (break between two styles). 1L growler from Goldorak, fresh 2007 batch. The look: Cloudy amber body topped by a little beige ring. In long: Nose is like a typical barley wine with added maple syrup and a lot of dry woody barrel. Taste is off, way off. I was trying to figure it out when Goldorak said “dill”. Right on! I’ll even go a step further and say that to me this tasted like dill pickles wrapped in a thick caramel coasting and maple syrup poured on top. Overly sweet. Barrel doesn’t show much in the taste but there’s some dry tree leaves/branches probably coming from the leaves. Alcohol is not well hidden at all. Man that was just not right. The Chemistry part definitely needs some work. But the Chaotic par, oh man, they really nailed that one right.

3.9 Bottle sampled. batch 449 11-1-04 3 bottle Pours a mahogany color with a beigh head. Aroma of caramel malts, brown sugar, vanilla, wood, and bourbon notes. Flavor is smooth and complex with bourbon, oak, caramel malts, and dark fruit sweetness with a nice warming alcohol finish. awesome

3.5 Tap at Max’s. Cloudy dark amber with a small beige head. Moderately sweet and vinous nose with cherries, caramel and bourbon. The flavor is moderately sweet, lightly tart with cherry, plum skins, toffee and pine. Full sticky, chewy body with moderate carbonation and a warm finish. Coming from Magic Hat, this wasn’t so bad.

2.6 Tap at Max’s on Broadway. Opaque, chesnut colored pour. A truly bizarre amalgam of aromatic elements: watermelon, hair spray and oxidized port, succeeded in awkward ad extra by salted hazelnut, cider, prominent vinegar, and an afterthought of chocolate. Incomprehensibly, it’s all there. Taste is a powerful, brash foray into the irrationality of youth in this style; cantaloupe, apple shampoo, sweet toffee syrup. Alcoholic and boorish, with a kind of overbearing caramel and rum sweetness beside the nail polish effect. Salty, and woodsy. Syrupy palate with a nagging, thorough heat. Finish of fruit liqueur in a predictable and long-lasting flourish. The definitively young and hopelessly messy barleywine.

3.7 Bottle. Nose-watered down cola, soy, maple. Taste-maple, medium, sweetness, medium alcohol, light soy, sweet fig, raisin, medium to high sweetness, brown sugar, light bitter on the back end. Brings the maple and dark fruit sweetness together very well. Dry sherry, sweet port, grapey, dry chocolate powder, Dr. Pepper.

1.1 Date: 01/10/2004 Mode: Bottle Source: Tasting clear light amber, whispy head, light sweet alcoholic aroma with a touch of fruity character, winey vinager flavor, lots of sourness, bad sample? Aroma: 4/10; Appearance: 3/10; Flavor: 1/10; Palate: 1/10; Overall: 3/20 Rating: 1.1/5.0 Score: -/4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.