Brewery: Magic Hat Brewing Company, South Burlington, Vermont

Brewery Description: “Unfiltered and unfettered. Circus Boy is a unique and refreshing American style Hefeweizen.”

Brew Style: Hefeweizen, 5.4% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Lager, Tumbler

The Ugly Truth: The third beer in the promo pack from Magic Hat, and sadly my least favorite of the bunch by far. Circus Boy pours a cloudy orange-yellow color like most hefeweizens, maybe a bit deeper in color than the norm. The head was fairly minimal, which I found kind of strange since most of the hefeweizens I like always have solid heads on them. The aroma was pretty typical, solid wheat smell with some touches of citrus to it. I’m not a fan of breweries adding citrus to my wheat beers at brewing, since I prefer to throw my own lemon in there. The taste was alright, but not great and had a light body to it. It had no real taste to make it stand out from other wheats, and about halfway through the taste turned really flat on me, the finish kind of died and it just wasn’t a factor in the overall experience anymore. So sadly the day has come when I have found a beer from Magic Hat that I don’t like, but I suppose it was bound to happen.

Verdict: Circus Boy needs to be put back in the cage and locked down with 5 out of 10 bottlecaps weight of chain.