Bison Organic Red Ale

Brewed by Bison Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Berkeley, California USA

04-Jan-08 (22-oz bottle: Purchased 23-Dec-07 for $3.99 at the Pizza Port Bottle Shop in Carlsbad, CA) Well, finally a good bottle of this beer. No infections, no soapy flavor. Malts are dry and toasty with background layers of baker’s chocolate, unsweet caramel, and gentle roast emerging in the evolution for a dry and clean finish. Hops are always in perfect balance, providing moderate bitterness and pleasant, West Coast-style piney hop flavor. Well-attenuated with virtually no residual sugar or caramely malt flavors getting in the way. Medium in body and carbonation level, but this just has a round, substantial mouthfeel. The aroma is toasty and slightly caramely, but not sweet, and the hops has less presence than in the flavor. Visually, the beer is a gorgeous marriage of dark-orange and red hues with full haziness that contributes to a bright, translucent glow. Beige head pours to half an inch, settling to a thin but full layer and leaving a few rings of lace on the glass. Overall, this is a really nice beer, very flavorful and immensely enjoyable. I’m glad that I was finally able to try a healthy bottle.

20-Apr-06 (22 oz bottle) Well, another shot with this beer, and though it’s not infected, the hops is very floral and somewhat soapy to me, so I’m still not enjoying this. Still need a good bottle.

27-Mar-05 (22 oz bottle: BevMo in La Jolla, CA) I don’t know, this doesn’t seem right here. The nose very much reminds me of those hot pale green peppers they put on the side of each Papa John’s pizza, kind of a pickled spiciness. No "red ale" should smell like this. I did buy this at BevMo, and it really seems like an adventure when you buy beers at BevMo as my "infected" hit rate is much higher here than anywhere else. Okay, and the flavor is spicy, peppery and fairly citrusy and tart. This beer has to be bad. Standard amber color, fully clear, with an off-white head that fades to a broken, thin layer. A moderate amount of draped lacing clings to the glass. Definitely requires a rerate. (3, 3, 2, 2, 4 = 1.5)

fierce aroma of roasted caramel. red/brown color and hardly any head. malt forward, and while balanced with hops, still always present and directly sweet. every time i drink this i want to pour it over ice cream.

Tasted at Asheville Brewgrass. Nice amber red color with caramelly malt aromas and appetizing bitterness. I was very surprised by the taste. For me it was a bit too hoppy. When I drink an amber ale I expect a dominace of malt and caramel, which was not the case. Overall, it was different, not outstanding, but I like the fact thats it’s organic.

Hazy amber, moderate head, good lacing and retention. Aroma is light hops, some dough, nuts, mostly sweeter malts. Medium to light body, just like a billion other ambers I’ve had. zzzz

Bottle from Bottle Barn; Nose is caramel, and buttery popcorn; lightly hazed amber with a medium beige head; flavor of caramel, hop bitterness and a small amount of diacetyl butter. Finish is a little bit of hops.

A bit lame. A bit too sweet, not enough hops - a generally average beer. But its organic!! whoop-dee-freakin-doo.

Aroma of caramel malt. Reddish amber color with an off-white head that’s insubstantial. Thin to medium bodied. Moderate carbonation. Starts with caramel malt, and it is not accompanied by a great deal of bitter. The hops seem floral. Some nuttiness comes forth toward the finish. The finish does end rather dry, and it has a very little bitter. Even a slight touch of citrus may be there. All in all it is rather mild and malty, but that’s the way an amber usually is.

slightly cloudy light orange ruby color with medium dense tan head. bready caramel nose with a nice roasted aroma. light viscous body with soft medium carbonation. tastes of toffee malt and nice undertone of oranges with a little creaminess. follows the bison style: mellow and simple