Magic Hat Snow Roller

The first time I tried a beer from the Magic Hat Brewing Company, I thought I was drinking something that stood out from the typical craft beer selection in my area. Their flagship beer, #9 became a sessionable favorite of mine during my senior year of college. During that time I also found the Hocus Pocus pale wheat ale, among others to be interesting. My personal favorite, the long retired Roxy Rolles red ale helped establish my love of hops balanced by a wonderful malt profile. But at some point, my palate seemed to shift and I began to find most of their beer to be bland & forgettable. The unique styles of beer that I enjoyed so much seemed to be made better by other breweries. For this review I decided to keep an open mind and revisit Magic Hat by taking a look at their latest winter offering Snow Roller.

Magic Hat Snow Roller according to the bottle is a hoppy brown ale. It pours a reddish brown with an off white head. Nothing really stands out in the aroma, it is nutty with caramel malt, chocolate and light earthy hops. Upon tasting the caramel, chocolate malt flavors flood the palate before finishing with an unpleasant earthy, pine bitterness. Now I may have singled out the finish as being unpleasant but frankly the entire experience of drinking this beer is unpleasant. The malt flavor is boring and understated. I feel like Snow Roller would have worked significantly better if the malt was more pronounced. Instead the hops are showcased and their bitterness with no balance from the malt makes this practically undrinkable. In fact, a third of the way into this beer I began to wonder if I should finish it or put it down the drain.

All and all, drinking Magic Hat Snow Roller was a huge disappointment. To me, the idea of a hoppy brown ale brings the promise of bold flavors and a balance between the hops and malt. There are no bold flavors here, just a lingering hop bitterness that makes me want to brush my teeth as soon as possible rather than take another sip of this horribly disappointing beer.

Overall I give Magic Hat Snow Roller a 0.5/5. I really want to say something clever here, but I really just want to finish this review and move on as soon as possible.



Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!