Clearly confusing red ale styling (in a can) at least betters brewers’ nasty gluten-free American Pale Ale. Shrill metallic shards scrape the inside of the musty millet-grained chestnut groove. Muffled flavor profile also tosses buckwheat, molasses and candy syrup into the confounding mix. Ashen nutty coarseness helps ruin the dank malt finish.
Easygoing canned red ale places rotted orange tartness across from roasted caramel sweetness. Crisp tobacco-leafed tea frolic and light pumpernickel-breaded nuttiness absorb ambiguous fruit spicing at midst. Light cafe au lait coffee creaming settles in deep recess. A tad thin, but soothingly smooth.
Wondrous piney-hopped citrus fruiting brings lovely IPA-like setting to rich mocha-smoked malting. Brisk grapefruit-peeled orange-tangerine-pineapple tang and ancillary peach-pear-apple-cherry-berry conflux reach honeyed wheat spine while nut-charred respite underscores frantic fructose sweetness. A well-balanced medium-bodied red ale crossover for hardened hop heads to try.
On tap at FishBones in Orlando, enjoyable honeyed citric spicing overlays cake-battered caramel malting. Lemony orange, grapefruit, apple and peach tones fade slowly into barley biscuit backdrop. Appealing middle-of-the-road fodder with just enough body and character.
On tap at 381 Main, bold 2013 fall seasonal (featured at New Jersey Devils hockey games) retains stylistic caramel-toasted fruit spicing above brisk Simcoe hop bite. Orange-dried apple, apricot and tangerine tang secures honeyed wheat spine. On tap at Cloverleaf, ’15 version increases sharp IPA-like fruiting and piney hop bittering, tightening up its orange-peeled grapefruit piquancy and tangy peach-pineapple-mango conflux.
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, expansive autumnal medium body spreads syrupy maple sugaring across dewy fresh-watered mineral graining and red-orange-yellow fruiting. Leafy resinous hops underscore ripe apple, tangerine, grapefruit, peach and navel orange illusions to fruited tea finish, leaving rustic fall foliage in its wake.
Casually creamed honeyed oats influence picks up mild IPA-like orange-peeled grapefruit rind briskness to ignite pungently dry-hopped medium body. Subtle wood-lacquered pine needling, sticky hemp-oiled spicing and acrid lemon-seeded souring delicately embitters ancillary mango-papaya-kiwi tropicalia hidden beneath floral citrus finish.
Brewer’s initial offering re-creates traditional Irish red ale with peated whiskey easement leading to honeyed tea resonance. Nominal cardboard-like sugar glass sweetness contrasts dry Scotch malts, calm hop astringency and light citric tease.
Adrift Irish Red Ale lacks stylish clarity. Tart orange-dried fruiting, weary Scotch malting and wispy cereal-grained sweetness whisked away by brisk carbolic Seltzer spritz. Understated biscuity malt bottom falters.
4-leaf clovers added to St. Patrick’s Day (2013) Irish Red Ale may not influence pleasant medium body in any noticeble way, but the dry peated whiskey overtones should suffice. Sweet crystal and caramel malts enhance its citric-spiced spritz and rye-breaded biscuit bottom. Alcohol-burnt hop astringency may overly embitter tart orange candied finish. ‘Lucky’ son of a bitch on the label’s a scream. On tap at Andy’s Corner Bar, honey-toasted Vienna malt creaming, spiced orange-cherry tang and grassy hop astringency lead the way.
