TheBeerObserver

My ongoing IPA quest continues. This week its Magic Hat Lucky Kat IPA. I must admit to mixed experiences with Magic Hat's brews - they are hit or miss for me, although #9 is a good outdoor summer beer.

With some surprise, Lucky Kat may rank as my favorite of the Magic Hat elixirs. Its a little darker than most IPA's, some Munich and Crystal malt is in there to give it a deeper copper color than you see with most IPAs. The result is a thick, fluffy head when poured with nice lacing on the glass and very little haze.

This IPA has a deep copper color, a little darker than a typical IPA, but very clear with no haze. It poured with almost no head - what little there was disappeared quickly. Checking other reviews - this is consistent across all of them. Someone should start tweaking their carbonation or bottle conditioning process because there's a problem when a beer pours without a head.

When you get a good batch (and therein lies the rub) this is one of my favorite beers.  I remember when Todd Mott, the brewer who designed the first version Harpoon IPA, started bottling this beer.  At its best Harpoon IPA has a good hop nose, pours well (good bottle conditioning) and is carbonated properly.  The malt provides the proper balance to the hops and the finish is bitter by not overly so--it makes you want to open another bottle/order another pint!  However, over the years my wife and I have noticed consistency problems with the IPA--stretc

Dogfish Head is an East Coast brewery that is hard to avoid these days.  Features in the New Yorker and on the Discovery Channel speak to the effectiveness of the marketing department.  With a reputation of hoppy beers, I had to jump in and try for myself.