Marin St Brendans Irish Red

Brewed by Marin Brewing Company
Style: Irish Ale
Larkspur, California USA

Pours cloudy copper with a huge, rocky, long-lasting off-white head. Apples, malt, hay, sugar, metal, and bread in the nose. Taste was pleasant, but lacking. Brown sugar, malt, grain, cereal, honey, and noble hops, but unbalanced.

In the bomber bottle from HyVee CB. Pours amber with a bodaciously large off white head. Mild citrus aroma of lemons and apricots. Smooth palate, but a sizeable hop presence that imparts subtle orabge and chocolate flavors. Good, but not great.

12-Jun-08 (22-oz bottle: Purchased 02-May-08 for $3.69 at Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, CA) Nicely balanced aromas of earth, toast and sweet caramel lead the way. But despite the caramely sweetness of the nose, the flavor appropriately trends more toward dry maltiness. A lightly sweet entry of toasty, caramely malts and light, airy earthiness dries out for a finish that adds unsweetened tea and multi-grain bread. Hops are practically indiscernible in the aroma, but shows a touch of floralness, light citrus and light bitterness in the finish. Dense, dry and chewy malts make for a creamy, full-bodied and filling beer. Soft carbonation furthers the heavy mouthfeel. Murky, deep-red-amber body is capped by a generous foamy cap, light-tan in color, dense and tightly knit, and long-lasting. Minimal lacing. This malt-focused beer is fairly simple and straight forward overall, but unlike what the style dictates, it’s is a meal unto itself. Well-made and enjoyable, but not something I’d drink very often.

Bottle... Clear, deep amber ale with a large, foamy, white head. Terrific retention. Perfumey, fruity aroma. Medium-bodied with pillow-soft carbonation. Medium caramel, fruity sweetness; mild tannic bitterness. Lengthy, bittersweet, lightly acidic finish.

I thought it was pretty honest to its style.. Although not that red, it did have a malty, earthy and slightly caramely nose and taste. Some grassy hops and bitterness in the finish. Crisp and refreshing with some nice flavor.

Pours a hazy brownish amber with a big fluffy white head that lingers for a while leaving some pretty good lacing. Smell is light, sweet malts...almost like amped up apple juice. There was some caramel sweetness and maybe a hint of hops, but not much. Caramel malts hit up front in the taste with a little bit of pine hop bitterness in the background. There is also a grainy medicinal quality about the taste that doesn’t quite sit right for me. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and fairly creamy. This is a decent beer, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to try it again.

this is brewpub food brew to me, you know what i mean? you wouldn’t want to drink it by itself in any setting--it would be worthwhile with a meal; mediocre; lighten up the alcohol and make it less chewy--how can this not be so smooth when it appears as if there is one layer... or simply let it explode with ingredients, or give it some other, ironic dimension; i’m just not a fan.

Amber colored, moderate head, some lacing and retention. Aroma is caramel, cookie, lightly fruity. Medium to light body, fairly sweet. Very drinkable, but not a lot going on.