First sip is almost entirely elderberry. I think I can taste some malt in there as well, but that is a lot of elderberry. I don't know why they do this. Why make beer into a fruit juice? It's not even a great berry to choose for a drink in the first place. I mean, no one goes to the store and says, "Hey, I want to get a bunch of elderberries and kick back on the deck on a warm summer night and just gobble them up." Well, I said it was almost entirely elderberry, but I do taste some malt in there. Not sure what it's doing, as malt is so often used to sweeten a beer laden with hops. This one has all the sweet it needs.
A big gulp brings a bit of a surprise. I can taste the malt very clearly now. It's a very nice, kind of light woody taste with maybe a hint of dull caramel. Then the finish becomes that elderberry taste. It's not nearly as bad as a finish, but it's still overpowering. It makes it hard to remember what the malt even tasted like after that massive elderberry hit at the end.
I'm not going to damn Magic Hat for putting this together. They were damned the moment HiCu left their brewery. It's not the worst beer ever, but it's not even the best beer in my fridge right now.
1.75/5