Magic Hat Batch 372

Well, my "hat" is off to Magic Hat for mixing things up, and for introducing the "Rave Or Grave" mystery beer angle -- a bit of mystery does tend to mix things up a bit...., for even for Magic Hat who's beers are routinely hard to categorize, label-wise.

But when I grabbed this during the yearly mixed six pack gift exchange at the Form On The Brain (homebrew club) Holiday Party, I was kinda hoping for something a bit more interesting than this. I'm normally not wholly opposed to Scottish-style ales per se, but they need to be done well to wow me.

This doesn't wow me.

Didn't help that this poured in a rather over-carbonated manner, with a huge head of foam, that quickly disappeared -- but remained overly fizzy in the mouthfeel. With no head on top, but lots of bubbles rushing to the surface, this reminded me (in appearance, nothing more) of a glass of Dr. Pepper in my pint glass.

At least things seem to pick up a bit in the flavor department. Enough semi-complex malts to give this some basic character. Semi-sweet/malty in the flavor profile, with more-or-less enough hops to give some balance to the whole affair.

[Quick comparison here: this is better than 3F's Robert The Bruce in a bottle, and about the same as Robert The Bruce off the tap]

But really? The mouthfeel on this guy -- fizzy/filling from the carbonation, with lingering sweetness -- doesn't lend itself very much to what I would call a nicely quaffable beer. As other reviewers have said, this is definitely an "one-and-out" beer for me.

Not bad, by any means, but just rubs me the wrong way. Finishable, but not something that I would ever think about getting again, should it cross my path...
//TB