Full Sail Nugget Special Red Ale

Brewed by Full Sail Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Hood River, Oregon USA

22 oz bottle. Aroma was of a light citrus and that it. Red body with off white head and some lacing. Just an ordinary mild to sweet citrus craft beer to add to ratings on rate beer. Maybe got one of those bad bottles or this was just not as good as other Full Sail beers I’ve had.

22oz bottle via trade with cbkschubert - Thanks Craig - Pours copper with ruby highlights and a fair offwhite head that leaves a good amount of lace. Aroma is big of caramel, and some candi sugar. Toasted malts and toffee there as well and some pine. Flavor is interestingly sweet with a good amount of toffee, caramel, candi sugar, and some citrus and pine at the finish. Medium body with light carbonation. Easy to drink.

Pours with a fat-two-finger thick, amber tinged, tan colored head that sits atop a brilliantly clear, concentrated red beer. The aroma is enticingly hoppy from a distance with notes of herbal & citrus like hop notes. Aromas of grapefruit, berries, tangerine, pine, and a solid, spicy / herbal backdrop are all quite noticeable. A touch of malt peeks through the hop notes, contributing a touch of sweet aromatics and some biscuit-like malt notes. What the malt does accentuate is the fruit, mostly berry like notes.

Fairly dry up front (I have a feeling that is the steak I had for dinner though), it does pick up a light, malty sweetness towards the middle. A slight, bitter, hop bite finishes this beer off and lingers on for a bit in the finish. Aggressively hoppy throughout, this beer has a pronounced herbal hop character that is a mix of pine, green-hay and perhaps a touch of menthol. A backdrop of citrus flavors help to round things out (mostly grapefruit notes) as does some malt character that leans towards caramelized malt sugars, biscuit-malt and some soda cracker notes towards the finish. This has a certain heft to it that allows it to stick just a bit to the mouth; this is still fairly easy drinking though.

Not a bad beer, seems to be a slightly bigger version of Full Sail Amber, or at least of that heritage. It could almost use a bit more malt character to stand up to the sharp hop notes in the finish (a sort of astringent, almost menthol like note). This is not bad, but for some reason it just can’t hold my interest for long.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Tucson, AZ

22 Special Ounces of Special Red Ale. 2007 Brewmaster Reserve. Dark copper amber color. Foamy tan head. Lots of caramel malts in the aroma. Hint of grapefruit and citrus in the nose as well. Floral flavor, rose, and some candy. Lots of malt. Very balanced palate. I wish I had another bottle of this one!

Tap at fest:Amber, lasting beige head. Nicely blended hop/malt nose.Carmel malt start, nice medium hop finish. Quite nice

Poured a deep red-amber color, nice frothy off-white but near white head. The aroma was fruity upon opening, caramel, toffee, citrus and floral hops. Flavor is a slightly off caramel and some toffee, tea bags (not really in a good way, either), diacetyl overflow w/ warmer temperatures, and floral and citrus hops. Finishes bitter, somewhat watery in flavor, some sort of a noble hop, firm bitterness in the end with no strong flavors signifying the hop? The mouthfeel is moderate to full for the style, a little more malty than I’d expected. Not a winner for me, especially as a "special" beer which used an extra 1.5% abv (6.5% total). Should certainly have been better, heck, I feel like I over-rated this sucker.

Pours with a brownish-red body topped by a thick, off-white head with lots of lacing. It’s slightly sweet and fruity wtih a nice maltiness and an underlying grapefruity hop note Medium bodied, slightly tingly on the tongue and a touch dry.

650 ml bottle from Bottle Barn, santa rosa. I’ve cleansed my tongue with fire after that nasty ass Drakes’ beer! Agh! Reddish amber color with a fizzy white head. Caramel and citrus hoppy aroma. Sweet malty backbone and a bigger bitter bite than I was expecting. Not bad at all.