Foothills Red Ale

Brewed by Foothills Brewing
Style: Irish Ale
Winston-Salem, North Carolina USA

Growler consumed during today’s baseball Opening Day festivities. A wonderful companion. Pours a clear burnished copper color with a heady cap of light tan froth. Lazy carbonation. Modest lacing. Aromas are mainly comprised of moist, dark, artisanal breads. Bready as can be. Some earthy hops sneak in. Flavors give the palate a solid caramel malt base along with more grainy bread. Wet dough. Crisp hop bite; just enough to make each sip finite. A smidge of hard mineral water kick. Solid mouthfeel; much more oomph than in other bland reds. A good drinker, as the growler was drained by the 7th inning of this afternoon’s 12-5 Cleveland victory.

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.

Had a half pint at the brewery when I was picking up my grolwers of sexual chocolate last weekend. This a well-hopped irish/red ale. Simple to drink, smooth, and downright tasty. I could drink a few of these, easy. Thanks Jamie for hooking it up with the growlers and giving me a (beer) reason to stay in NC!

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.

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.

I just finisheda growler of this solid, somewhat hoppy red ale and I am extremely impressed by its balance. Piney bitterness up front is completely justified by a wonderful maple and caramel malty backbone. Hooray for well done simple brews!

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.

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.