Manhattan Beach Rat Beach Red Ale

Brewed by Manhattan Beach Brewing
Style: Amber Ale
Manhattan Beach, California USA

Draught. Pours clear, deep amber with an average, creamy, off-white head, mostly lasting with excellent lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (caramel, nutty), heavy hops (perfume, pine, citrus), average yeast (dough) with notes of candied apples and pear. Medium bodied, oily texture, average carbonation, and a chalky finish. Average duration, light sweetness, acidity, and bitterness.

Tap at MBBC. Pours a dark amber with a nice off white head. Aroma is of roasted malt bread caramel with a hint of hops. Taste is roasty malty bread caramel and a little bitterness from the hops. Very easy drinking amber ale.

This was the best beer I had at Manhattan Beach Brewing, although not the best looking, and it is fairly interesting and quite drinkable. It is dark red with a little brown. It has a thin off-white head soon shrinking to a thin ring and a hint of very weak lace. The smel is very malty, toasted bread, stewed runes, fruit, dark raisins, caramelized suagr with a little brown bread and hint of leaves. The taste is nice, very malty with a lot of stewed fruit, some sweet brown bread, hints of port and leaves. It’s mostly sweet with a very light bitterness of pine. It’s very easy to drink, a little unusual, and goes fairly well with food. I can’t say it’s a really great beer, but I certainly enjoyed it.

Draft at the brewpub. Now we are stating to get somewhere. Decent aromas and flavors. Reddish copper color with decent head. Aromas were caramel with just hints of citrus. Flavor came on more hoppy with decent grapefruit finish with a nice malty body. Not too bad.

Tap @ brewpub: Clear brown with an off-white head. Interesting flavor of buttery malts with a zing. Malty flavors and aromas. The aroma isn’t that complex. I noted a little cola in the aftertaste and a slight hop presence with cardboard bitterness.

Sample at the brewpub. This beer is a clear reddish-amber color with a medium light beige head that diminishes quickly. Earthy malt and light hops in the nose. Light, sweet body with malt and caramel flavors primarily, and light hops in the background. The finish is malty sweet with mildly bitter hops left over. Slightly below average all around.

On tap @ brewery. Great name for this red. Thick white head on this amber/red ale. Nice balance of hops and malt, nothing too overpowering. Good drinkable brew

On tap at brewery, 01/07/08. Coppery hue with excellent head retention, both nice looking and long lasting. No aroma at all. No initial flavor, but some malt when it goes down the tongue and a little hop bitterness on the finish. All the flavor is in the aftertaste. Huh.