Beer 178 - Magic Hat #9 Not Quite Pale Ale

The Magic Hat brewery is located in S. Burlington, Vermont.  Magic Hat is owned by KPS Capital Partners through its company North American Breweries.  This beer was bought back by Rigo on his last trip to the east coast and i drank it at home in Katy after spending new years day working on the new library in the house we created from the spare bedroom.  Unfortunately it appears we put a lot of books in storage instead of bringing them to Katy, so some of the shelves are empty.  No problem, though, I'm sure we'll soon fill them.

The web site: http://www.magichat.net/ has lots of flash video and has glitz as well as good information.

The web site says: "A beer cloaked in secrecy. An ale whose mysterious and unusual palate will swirl across your tongue and ask more questions than it answers. A sort of dry, crisp, refreshing, not-quite pale ale. #9 is really impossible to describe because there's never been anything else quite like it.  5.1% ABV" 

The beer is cloudy when first poured then after a while tiny white particles settle into the bottom of the glass.  Is this yeast settling out or the bleached remains of orange or lemon peel added to the beer.  An interesting nose and an interesting taste, no bad odors or flavors but notes of spice and fruit.  Pleasant enough, but  offputting enough that the flavors marred my enjoyment of the beer.