Casco Bay Riptide Red Ale

Brewed by Casco Bay Brewing (Shipyard Brewing Co.)
Style: Irish Ale
Portland, Maine USA

Draft - Poured a dark ruby red in color with a light off-white head. Relatively low carbonation. Aroma was malty with some spicy hops mixed in. Flavor was well balanced, but not very strong. Some malt and dark fruit along with some spicy hopiness. Good beer, but not distictive or one that I would actively seek out...

This is what a Red should be. A nice red color with a good malt character and just enough hop to balance it. It has a good head to boot.

Amber color with an amazingly huge foamy cream-colored head. A malty aroma. Flavor is a hint of spice, hops, and raisans. Nice and complex, but not too full bodied. Not bad, but not one that I would seek out again.

Bottle. Small ivory head that was mostly lasting, fair lacing, fine, small and large sized bubbles, minimal carbonation, and a reddish brown hue. Malty, caramel and hoppy aroma. Flavor was sweet, malty, caramel, hoppy and some toffee. Smooth palate. Medium body.

Aroma is rich in toasted mashmallow, toffeeish malted hops, and sea salt. A very English character that is almost candy-like. Flavor profile is incredibly complex. It starts off with soft caramel, moving to a dollop of hops blending with a dry chocolate, then finishing with a drying finish battling with hop flavor at the top of the palate. The entire flavor profile is wrapped in an encompassing, mouthfilling crystal malt character. This could best be described as toasting mashmallow on the beach over a campfire. My favorite from this brewery.

Nice and malty red. Looks great with a light head. Nicely managed hop/malt interplay. Tastes rather complex, but works well. Very easy to drink. I’ll have another.

Riptide is a nice reddish beer with a slightly off white head. Again like the rest of the beer made by casco, it’s very well balanced, but not outstanding enough to make a big impression. Goes down well though.

Bottle: Pours to a huge foamy off-white head, lots of little floaties, crimson colored, and vg lace. The aroma has biscuity and light carmel malts upfront with some subdues cherry and apple fruity esters, even a touch of anise for good measure. The taste starts malty smooth with a very bready tone. An touch of floral and noble hops appear but are mostly just background noise. The finish has a bit of peppery kick and some lingering toffee like notes. The feel is smooth and a bit more body than normally found within the genre. The whole is better than the pieces and I found this to be a nice way to start the day. Oh, this bottle is past it best before date by close to eight months, maybe it’s better that way.