Review of Magic Hat Roxy Rolles
Posted By Ken Sunday, 04 October 2009 23:00
This is the first of a few reviews that will be done thanks to my trip this weekend to Chicago with fellow reviewer Jason. We stopped at a liquor store after grabbing some lunch, and I found this Autumn Seasonal from Magic Hat. Being a huge fan of the #9, I was very interested to try this one since the fall/Oktoberfest season seems to bring out a really nice selection of seasonals. See if the offering from Magic Hat stacked up or not by reading on.
Ken's Review
Taste: A Magic Hat Roxy Rolles is labeled as a Hoppy Autumn Amber, which this one excels at in all areas. This one has one of the nicest balances in hops and spice of an Autumn beer I think I have ever had. You get an initial hoppy taste, with a nice back side of spices that slowly switches places with the hops, then seems to just balance each other so well that it is insane. I know this will shock some people, but this may have replaced Sam's Octoberfest as my favorite Autumn seasonal beer. Holy shit this is good stuff!
Packaging: A- Magic Hat Roxy Rolles has a pretty wild image on the label that appears to be a guy dressed head to toe in black leather, with aviator goggles on, riding a motorcycle down a road with a wooden sign pointing to "Oktoberfest", kicking up leaves and his red scarf flying around. Pretty crazy label, but I dig it because everything about it says Autumn.
Value: B+ I got this sixer at the liquor store in Chicago for $7.99, which is definitely worth it. I think here in Indy it may run another buck above that, but it's still a good deal for a very nice autumn amber. Since I have no problem forking $8.99 for Sam Adams Octoberfest, I sure as hell wouldn't flinch about doing the same for this one.
Drunkeness: B- The Roxy Rolles comes in at just a 5.1% alcohol content. You could argue that this isn't a fantastic content for an autumn beer, but what it lacks in alcohol it more than makes up for in taste. And after you get one of these down you will continue to enjoy them to the equivalent point you would have got to with a higher content seasonal, so I can let this one slide.
Overall: A Holy fuck this was such a good beer! I am still amazed at how smoothly it is balanced, and am sad that this will only be available for another couple months before the long wait begins to get it again. This may be one I need to stock up on for the winter. I don't know that this will age until next year, and have no desire to try, but definitely one I would like to keep around as long as possible. If you like Oktoberfest beers, Amber beers, or spicy beers, do not pass this one up!