Gordon by Oskar Blues

Gordon. Imperial/Double IPA//Imperial/Double Red Ale. Oskar Blues. Lyons, Colorado.

Winter 2010/2011.

My review on RateBeer:

3.4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
AHTOH (42) - San Diego, California, USA - FEB 19, 2011

12 ounce can. Canned on 9/30/10. Drank 2/17/11. Poured into Duvel tulip.

APPEARANCE: Pours deep burnt orange with a slight ruby hue. Cream/light khaki colored head is 1 finger and has medium duration. Once head settles, thin layer of cream colored film is left on surface.

AROMA: Piney hops and plentiful caramel malt. Some earthy character. Faint skunk and cereal notes. Hint of alcohol and green raisin.

TASTE: Hops and caramel malt nicely balanced; with hop bitterness a bit more pronounced. Front of palate is toffee; plentiful amount of it makes it seem almost syrupy. Citrus and grassy hops on front of palate as well. Piney and slight grainy taste on mid palate. Back of palate and finish is bitterness. Bitter finish is a bit lengthy.

MOUTH FEEL: Medium bodied. Slight prickly feeling on finish.

OVERALL: Aroma has nice balance between hops and caramel malt. More bitter (and with a longer bitter finish) than I prefer. Straight-forward; rather than complex. A bit syrupy.

Jolly Rodger (2010) by Drakes

Jolly Rodger (2010). Imperial Red. Drakes Brewing Co. San Leandro, CA.

Winter 2010/11.

My review on RateBeer:

3.6 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
AHTOH (27) - San Diego, USA - JAN 14, 2011

Bomber. Poured into Duvel tulip.

APPEARANCE: Pours deep burnt orange. Hazy. Off-white head is about 1 finger; somewhat short duration. Head settles leaving small to mid foam clusters. Minimal short–lived lacing.

AROMA: Citrus hops, citrus fruit (especially tangerine), some coffee, lots of toffee, subtle chocolate. Faint bread aroma as it warms up.

TASTE: Citrus and grassy hops throughout. Faint chocolate and coffee. Citrus hop on front palate. Hints of floral sweetness on mid palate. Subtle resinous hop and faint bread taste on back of palate.

MOUTH FEEL: Medium body. Medium carbonation, though initially observed noticeably rapid effervescence. Pleasantly bitter finish (ie, vs. excessively bitter) with medium length.

OVERALL: Aroma subtly like an orange mocha of the imperial red style. Interesting that the resinous hop bitterness seems supplemented with a faint coffee/dark chocolate-like bitterness – believe this is the first time I have tasted/noticed this in an Imperial Red.

YuleSmith (Winter) by AleSmith.

YuleSmith (Winter). Imperial Red Ale. AleSmith. San Diego, CA.

Fall 2010.

My review on RateBeer:

3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
AHTOH (19) - San Diego, USA - DEC 19, 2010
22 ounce bottle. Poured into Duvel tulip. Deep mahogany (in other words, similar to deep ruby with hues of brown) tone of amber. Big fluffy beige head with long duration retention, which eventually begins to settle unevenly, with highest portion at the center. Plentiful Belgian lace leaves rings around glass for some time. Pine and grassy hop aroma is most prominent though only slightly outweighs caramel maltyness and notes of toffee on nose. Well balanced aroma. Subtle hints of dark dried fruits and cereal on nose. Mild citrus hops on front of palate. Mid palate characterized by subtle malty caramel flavors, behind some bitterness. Slightly grainy taste on back of palate. Pleasant hoppiness on finish, though expected somewhat of a longer lasting finish. Overall taste, like aroma, is fairly balanced though slightly skewed more towards hop than caramel malt. Also, some of the maltyness seemed a bit grainy. Medium body. Mild carbonation. Average mouth feel for the style.

Hop Head Red by Green Flash

Hop Head Red. Red Ale. Green Flash Brewing Co. Vista, San Diego County, CA.

Fall 2010.

My review on RateBeer:

3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
AHTOH (15) - San Diego, USA - DEC 17, 2010
12 ounce bottle. Poured into Duvel tulip. Pours cooper tone of amber. Big beige head with decently long retention. Head begins to go down quite unevenly, almost reminiscent of one of the best common Belgian ales – Duvel. Head eventual settles to thick foam covering most of the top of the ale and floating on it like melting butter. Extremely impressive Belgian lace – again, almost like Duvel – perhaps the most initial lacing have seen in a red/imperial red ale to date. Just whole lot of beautiful lace sticking to sides of glass. Small amount of ash colored sediment floating throughout. Well balanced aroma with the citrusy hops slightly more pronounced than the caramel malts. Some piney and spicey hops on nose. Subtle hint of grain/cereal aroma. Hoppy throughout palate. Very little caramel malty sweetness – with just a touch of it mid palate. Citrusy hops, with perhaps a touch of floral hops, on back of palate. Hoppy bitter finish. Would have liked the taste more balanced with regard to the hops and caramel malts, though I suppose this hop predominance could have been expected given the “Hop Head” is before the “Red” in the name and the question “Is it a red IPA?” appears in the description. That withstanding, still would have liked a more balanced red ale. Mild mouth feel. Medium body. Smooth and somewhat creamy at beginning, yet slightly grainy texture in finish.

Red Rocket Ale by Bear Republic

Red Rocket Ale. Strong Red Ale (almost Imperial Red Ale). Bear Republic Brewing Company. Healdsburg, CA.

Fall 2010.

My review on RateBeer:

3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
AHTOH (14) - San Diego, California, USA - DEC 5, 2010
12 ounce bottle. Poured into Bruery tulip. Off white, cream colored head dissipates relatively quickly leaving only few clusters of foam atop the beer. Essentially inexistent lacing. Pours very dark for a red ale (ie, when looking at full glass it appears dark brown like a stout or porter). When held close to light, hue is deep orange/ruby-ish brown shade of amber. Plenty sediment throughout with the largest chunks of light ash colored sediment falling to the bottom of glass – first have seen in a red or imperial red ale (then noticed it is noted on side of bottle: “Brew Master Notes: …real ale is alive, yeast is good…”). Almost as much sediment as some Belgian golden strong ales (eg, La Chouffe as a recently drunk example). Piney hops is primary aroma, caramel malt scent is secondary. Slight earthiness on nose. Pleasant and well balanced aroma. Seems to have very subtle hint of tobacco with perhaps even less of a hint of bitter chocolate. Hops on front palate. Caramel malt on mid palate begins to balance out hops. Malt is slightly less sweet and less caramely than other reds/imperial have recently tried. Back of palate and finish are very well balanced; especially the finish as compared to some other red and imperial red ales have had recently, which had quite hoppy finishes. Just a touch of alcohol on the finish. Highly quaffable. Mild mouth feel. Almost sessionable expect that it nears 7% abv.

Shark Attack by Port Brewing

Shark Attack. Imperial Red Ale. Port Brewing. Solana Beach, CA.

Fall 2010.

My review on RateBeer:

3.5 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
AHTOH (12) - San Diego, USA - DEC 2, 2010
22 ounce bottle. Poured into Duvel tulip. Colorful beige head has decent retention duration. Minimal amount of Belgian lace. Burnt orange/brown sugar tone of amber in color. Caramel malts appear to be slightly more pronounced on the nose than the hops. Hops seem to smell of earthy pine. Some honey and slight scent of tropical fruit. Robust and delicious aroma reaches nose while pouring the beer into glass from arms length distance. As beer warms up there appears to be a layer of grainy, perhaps even some biscuit aromas on the nose. Subtle caramel malt on front of palate. Pleasant hoppiness on mid to back palate. Piney hop taste. Hoppy bitterness in finish; perhaps a bit too bitter of finish. Hops are most prevalent taste; this beer is less balanced than expected and less balanced than other Imperial Reds have recently tried. Medium bodied. Slight prickly mouth feel. Somewhat more alcohol warmth compared to others in the style.

Lucky 13 by Lagunitas

Lucky 13. Imperial Red Ale (which they call "Mondo Large Red Ale"). Lagunitas Brewing Company. Petaluma, CA.

Fall 2010.

My review on RateBeer:

3.5 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
AHTOH (11) - San Diego, California, USA - NOV 28, 2010
22 ounce bottle poured into Duvel tulip. Translucent amber. Beige head with minimal retention duration. Equal amounts of citrusy hops and caramel malts are pronounced on nose. Toffee and grass aromas. Very subtle honey aroma. Slight earthy scent. Grassy hops front of palate. Sweet caramel mid palate. Back of palate is quite nicely balanced hop bitterness and malt sweetness. Hoppy finish. Pleasant and mild mouth feel. Essentially zero syrupiness.

Red Devil by Coronado Brewing Co.

Red Devil. Imperial Red Ale. Coronado Brewing Company. Coronado, CA.

Fall 2010.

3.8 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
AHTOH (8) - San Diego, California, USA - NOV 21, 2010
22 ounce bottle. Poured into Bruery tulip. Light tan head lasts decent length of time settling to small layer that rests atop the ale. Decent Belgian lacing for the style. Pours deep ruby/dark amber color when held to light. Big Caramel malts as well as earthy hops on nose. Hops seem to smell of slight pine and some dirt. Subtle hints of citrus as well as honey come through on the nose. Slight caramel on front of palate. Pleasant hop taste sets in from mid palate to finish. Some roast malts, slight nuts on back of palate. Silky and wet mouthful; far from dry. Decently lasting finish. Overall, impressive. Delicious caramel covered pine tree aroma and taste.

Imperial Red Ale by Rogue

Imperial Red Ale. Rogue. Newport, Oregon.

Fall 2010.

My review on RateBeer:

3.1 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
AHTOH (7) - San Diego, USA - NOV 18, 2010
7 ounce bottle. Poured into Bruery tulip glass. Brownish amber color. Irish cream colored head is miniscule and diminishes rapidly, leaving only creme colored bubbles around the circumference of the glass. Hops at front of nose. Slight malt and caramel smell. Some lightly toasted almond. Trace amounts of alcohol discernable in smell. Taste is heavy on nuts on front of palate. Roasted malts mid-palate. Hoppy bitterness after taste. Light carbonation. Silky mouth feel, though nearly bordering lower spectrum of syrupy. Expected more from this $5 7 oz. bottle.

Loakal Red by The Bruery

Loakal Red. American Red Ale. The Bruery. Placentia, California.

Fall 2010.

The name "Loakal" is a play on the words "local" because it is only available locally (ie, only in Orange County) and "oak" because 25% of it is aged in oak barrels.

COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
75% American Red Ale, 25% Ale Aged in American Oak Barrels. A brash American Red ale, dripping with citrusy Centennial hops, mellowed by a touch of oak. Aromas of toffee, citrus, crushed herbs, vanilla and fresh-sawn oak.

My review on RateBeer:

3.7 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
AHTOH (1) - San Diego, California, USA - OCT 23, 2010
750 mL bottle purchased at Bruery Provisions in Orange, CA. Sipped out of Bruery tulip. Pours nice opaque dark amber color. Impressive Belgian lace for an amber, definitely above average. Head retention duration was above average with clusters forming and maintained until glass finished. Outstanding aroma. Toffee is definitely pronounced. Sweet caramel-y deliciousness. Subtle hints of oak present with somewhat more subtle vanilla discernible. Quite hoppy for an amber. Perhaps the base beer is similar to Alesmith’s Halloween seasonal beer, Evil Dead Red, in terms of hoppiness and ABV (6.66% vs 6.9%), though, overall, Loakal Red is a much more complex beer, especially given that a portion of it is barrel aged. Given Bruery’s focus on Belgian style ales, expected more Belgian/yeasty taste, perhaps like a Rare Vos by Ommegang. However, the hop character definitely overpowered any potential yeasty flavor(s) that may have been present. Slightly hoppier than I would have preferred though overall an amazing ale, with especially outstanding aroma.