Monday, 28 April 2014

Carnival (4.3%) by Magic Rock


Time for a quick one? Yes, yes, yes.

A swift visit to The Broadfield can yield a decent beery bounty these days (although it still manages to avoid any real recognition from CAMRA). Personally, I tend not to bother too much with the Black Iris and True North stuff that is usually available, ditto the Acorn and Abbeydale, but that still left some crème de la cask in the shape of Arbor and Magic Rock!
 

My indecision was noticed by the attentive and well-informed bar-keep (another asset of this Abbeydale Road Ale House). I chose the Arbor Single Hop offering which was Moteuka, I believe. Arbor are among the best in the South West but I`d forgotten that the hop wasn`t the tops to my tastebuds. A nice enough tipple and below 4% ABV but the Magic beckoned!

Carnival is super Summer sup. It`s labelled as a Golden Ale but it appears a bit more of a hazy orangey colour than you`d expect. It really reminded me of another beer but it took me a few days to figure out that I think it`s Dark Star`s Sunburst that is along the same lines; Both well worth a try. Carnival is a fruity fellow with a balance of sweetness and citrus sharpness making it quite easily drinkable and carrying an amiable ABV of 4.3%. Aromas here are of Summery stuff sure enough and the bitterness is pretty subtle. So I had another.....
 

Time was short but I did appreciate the taster that the bar-man gave me of a Harbour DIPA (ABV of 9%+) that was interesting; really tasty and no big, over-powering alcoholic hit.  Maybe save that one for a rainy day though…..!
 
Mike`s Magic Number - 7 / 10

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