HopTown Paint the Town Red

Formerly brewed at HopTown Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Pleasanton, California USA

Pours with a deep red body topped by a medium thick, off-white head with a good amount of lacing. The aroma is slightly sweet, malty and fruity with a slight hoppy note. Not all that great. The flavor is slightly sweet and malty with a slight caramel note and some hoppy grapefruit notes. Medium to full bodied, slightly warming and slightly dry.

(12 oz bottle: $3 at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, CA) The bottle opens with a loud "phhht" warning, and despite a careful pour, I still got a glass full of light tan foam. I hate being taunted like this, having to wait several minutes before tasting it. So while the foam dies down, I’ll take notes on the aroma and color too. The nose is dominated by a very floral, sweet, and fresh hoppiness, with a light maltiness in the background. The color is a dark orange amber, clear in appearance (except when the sediment is released on the final pour, which results in a totally cloudy beer), and wow, talk about an army of fast-rising carbonation bubbles. Good head retention, as the head is taking its sweet ass time settling down. Some patches of dense foam, rather than a delicate lace, are left on the glass. Tap, tap, tap...... I’m thirsty, dammit! Tap, tap, tap...... Okay, I can finally taste this. Definitely quite hoppy, but only moderately bitter. The minimally sweet maltiness is easily countered by a very floral, fresh tasting, grapefruity hops which shows more assertiveness from start to finish. Fairly dry palate. For an amber, this is a bit more hoppy and less malty than I’d expect, but it’s quite enjoyable even if it’s pushing the boundary of amber ales.

Clear copper body topped by creamy beige head. Aroma is medium sweet, grapefruit, some pine, caramel, light strawberry. Taste is medium sweet, grapefruit (fairly bitter), light caramel. Water medium body, light acidity.

Bottle conditioned: Deep reddish appearance, thick head formation. Sweet caramel, fruity aroma, strong piney citrus and grapefruit. Predominantly hoppy palate, grapefruit and lemon bitterness. Biscuit caramel malt a little overshadowed.

Bottled. Clear ruby, small creamy head. Big grapefruity hop aroma. Clean, fairly hard mouthfeel. Some cookie malt behind a curtain of aromatic hops. Finishes with lychees and medium bitterness.

Body is ruby, with a thick, quickly dissapating light tan head. Aroma is hoppy, with peach, sugar, and floral notes. Pretty sweet and filling, the hops and the fruitiness kinda cancel each other out. Pretty nice.

Loved the citrusy hop bite and smooth finish. Light and refreshing, it really hit the spot on a hot afternoon.

Bottle. Big citrus hop aroma on a beer that’s reddish amber (slightly hazy) sporting a big beige head. Tons of fruit - peach, citrus, berry with a sweet malt backing and bitter finish. A little too light in body. Easy to drink. If it was just a little heavier of a body it would be nice and complex, but the body just doesn’t do it. Overall a good beer.