Carolina Beer Co. Limerick Irish Red

Brewed by Carolina Beer Company
Style: Irish Ale
Mooresville, North Carolina USA

Name: Irish Style Red Ale
Date: 04/07/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, 50 Beers on the Wall

clear dark amber, wispy beige head, light malt aroma with a hint of hops, sweet malt flavor, touch of bready character, light bittering hops,

Aroma: 4/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 2.7/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

Half decent... but just half. Had this at the Indigo Joe’s in Mooresville. Looking forward to the UFC this weekend, Couture vs. Gonzaga, at that bar, possibly drinking this beer. It was THAT good.

Bottle split with Tronraner. Light reddish amber hue with a decent white head. Aroma = malt. Clean, sweet, mildly fruity but mostly bready. Thin malts in the flavor, not much else going on. Lightly bready, a bit of caramel. Pretty non descript. Drinkable and inoffensive. It’s almost a let down how plain this is, but again, it is clean and easy to put down.

Bottle courtesy of OldGrowth. Labeled as Cottonwood Irish Style Red Ale. Ruddy amber. Small whitish head. Nose is malty with light caramel, dried fruits and soft toffee-like notes. Taste is fruit, caramel, toasty malts, light nuttiness, and light spicy hops. Body is medium and well carbonated. burping my way through this enjoyable beer has been great. More toasty malts, dried fruits and caramel complete this beer. Nice one!

Bottle of Cottonwood Irish Style Red Ale courtesy of OldGrowth. Rusty orange body with a modest, sudsy, gray-white head. Syrupy crystal malt aroma and light fruity ale yeast notes suggesting apples. Faint toastiness as well. Flavor is medium sweet with a blend of caramelization and toast, plus moderate bitterness. A solid Irish red ale that is well dialed-in to style.

Poured a clear amber color with a large creamy beige head. Sweet and malty with a mild fruitiness. Malty flavor with some toastiness and fruit. Light to medium body with a semi-dry finish.

From notes 5/17/03: Pours an amber brown color with a light tan head. Not much aroma that I could detect. Tastes a little earthy, a little smoky. Not a heaviness to it, but a light smokiness. Perfect for summertime per the gents at Carolina Beer & Beverage. I concur. A little thin in the mouthfeel, this is not a heavy sweet beer. Should be very drinkable in the summer around here once it hits the shelves in bottles as Cottonwood Summer Mountain Red Ale. I’m looking forward to tasting the bottled version as opposed the the on-tap kind I had today at the brewery.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained 25-Mar-06 in trade with Jonathan3584, thanks Jonathan!) This is quite a nice Irish ale to smell; the nose is quite malty, nicely toasty, reminiscent of a brewery. Unfortunately, the maltiness drops a bit in enjoyability, showing some toastiness, but considerably more husky grains and less quality malt flavor. It’s mildly sweet and even lighter on the hops and bitterness. Medium bodied, fairly dry mouthfeel, typical carbonation. Hazy, deep amber color in nice, but the quarter-inch of off-white head fully dissipates with five or ten minutes. Very routine stuff, but not offensive to me in any way.