Foothills Red Ale

On tap as the Irish red seasonal. For an Irish red- this was actually pretty good, but still a boring style. Medium amber red with a nice head. Aroma is nutty with good full caramel malts, slight butter, low hops and good ester fruitiness. Flavor is toffee, caramel, herbal hops, light spice, and a good fruitiness. Fairly clean and very easy to drink.

Nice deep red color, refreshing, spicy on the finish. Not overly malty like some reds. Crisp with nut-like flavor. A bit more dynamic than the standard red.

Draft at the brewery. Reddish orange clear pour with minimal ring of whitish head. Nose of caramel malts and a little nutty. Flavor has a good bit of nuttiness, but again it comes across as vegetal, more caramel, some citrus. Clean and easy drinking. Not a bad beer at all, but nothing overly special.

On tap at Barley’s: Pours a solid red hue with a fair tannish head. The aroma is quite toasty with lots of nuts, toffee, and even some light grapefruit. This brew has a fairly light mouthfeel with an easy to drink flavor profile. Hints at toast, toffee, chocolate, subtle citrus are all here but in a lighter, thirst-quenching package which makes this surprisingly drinkable. I certainly don’t get excited about Irish-styled red ales, but I could drink a lot of these.

Name: Irish Red
Date: 04/11/2008
Mode: Draft
Source: Barley’s, NC

Appearance: clear dark red, fine dirty white head, lots of scattered lace,
Aroma: sweet bready dark caramel malt aroma,
Flavor: rich malt flavor, nice caramel sweetness, touch of toasted malts, lots of fresh bread character, light earthyness for balance and a light bitter finish,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: *4

On tap at tyler’s in durham. Poured a red hued brown with an off white head. Aroma of caramel and chocolate, although there may have been some sweet, citrus. Flavor was similar. A really solid caramel backbone; some chocolate. A nice amount of bitterness for the style. Citrus and orange in the finish. A very solid beer.

Draught at the brewpub in WS. Reddish brown, medium off-white head. Malty nose, caramel, chocolate, sweet. Flavor is malty, with a lot of caramel, some chocolate, and roasty malt undertones. Slightly saccharin, but not too much. Slight bitter finish seems to come from roasted malts.

On tap at Tyler’s Disappointing on the first sip, but better as I drank. Not overly hoppy... focused more on the malts. Had a nice and surprising orange peel flavor at the end. Not bad.