Magic Hat #9 Not Quite Pale Ale

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Origin: USA
Type: American Pale Ale
Color: Orange
Alcohol content: 5.4%
Recommended serving temperature: 7ºC/45ºF
Brewery: Magic Hat Brewing Company

I have decided to write today about one of the few beers I kept going back to during my summer roadtrip through the south of the USA, the delicious Magic Hat #9 Not Quite Pale Ale.

I went back to it several times not only because it is actually pretty widely available, so I found it on the beer menu at several places I went to, but also of course because it was a really shocking but nice surprise the first time I tried it.

It's an amber orange beer with a pretty impressive amount of foam, but which doesn't really hold too long. The carbonation though is still highly noticeable both in the glass and in your mouth.

Its smell is incredibly malty sweet and highly mouthwatering. Depending on the moment, it ranges between apricots or peaches and tropical fruits, and flowers and herbs. However, the mix is so well struck and it is so creamy thick that the whole thing kind of reminds me of those particularly rich, creamy and dense bath soaps with tropical fruit smells.

The taste very much follows suit, with a big chunk of sweet creaminess invading your mouth. It is again a mix of peaches and apricots and tropical fruits and a flowery herbyness which makes you think of all the pleasant smells of the outdoors in the tropics (read, and not all the less pleasant ones like animals leaving their presents in the heat of the sun) which the shampoo and bath soap commercials so aptly portray.

You can tell why this beer is called "Not Quite Pale Ale". To start with the obvious, it's color is definitely not pale. Also, though, pale ales tend to be balanced, with a lot of maltiness, but with a healthy hop presence to counteract it. This is not really the case with this beer though. It is malty sweet all the way.

As such, I would recommend trying it with a plain  cheesecake (by that I don't mean it should be bland, but rather that it have no fruit on it), as the creamy flavors will match together and this beer would bring the sweet fruitiness to the cheesecake normally given by the jam.

The Magic Hat #9 came wholeheartedly recommended by my girlfriend's brother and I definitely see why. Paired or not, this beer is a delicious treat for any day of the year and especially refreshing in the summer.

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