Mendocino Raptor Red Lager

Brewed by Mendocino Brewing Company
Style: Pale Lager
Hopland, California USA

This copper ale poured with a thin beige head and a malty aroma. The flavor is caramel malt with some carbonation and bitterness.

Bottle. Light amber color with a small, rapidly diminishing, white head. Aroma of slightly roasted malt and a little grassy hop. Near medium body with near creamy carbonation. Flavor is roasted red malt result with some definite grassy hop. Finish is nicely bitter - this is one heck of a pale lager.

Earthy hops with mild roasted honey and soft dms nose. Dry and mild roasted nuts on the palate. Bread and metallic notes pick up towards the end.

Bottle. Poured a clear copper-orange color. Head was thin and off white. A bit of tattered lace was left behind on the glass at the end. Smelled of grape candy and subdued noble hops. Dry, spicy, and effervescent on the tongue with noble hop and lightly toasted bread flavors. Not a show stopper.

This beer was a little confusing. While most beers with the name "red" in it are typically descriptive of the contents inside the bottle, I didn’t see ANY "red" in the beer. Perhaps they were just describing the bird on the bottle? Anyways, the beer was pretty good considering it’s a simple lager. The appearance is a solid golden color, tiny bubbles floating upwards with what starts out as a solid white head and then melts into minimal top layer of foam. Aroma consists mostly of bready malts with a small dose of yeast. There is also a grassy hop angle to the aroma but it’s very downplayed. Mouthfeel is light in body, crisp and clean. Flavor is mostly yeasty with small bits of grass, finish is slightly bitter. Definitely a clean tasting, refreshing lager although unspectacularly normal.

From a six pack purchased at the local Coop. Seems fresh and was refrigerated. Poursd a dark amber but was very clear. Nice head with tiny bubbles. Nose was hoppy and light malts. Mouthfeel was smooth . Flavor had a touch of citrus. There is nothing wrong at all with the beer except it a lager. and so by nature is unintersting. For fans of the type it would be good, but for me it is hard to get above just plain average.

[Bottled at Hong Kong Brew House, Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong] Hazy pale orange, rich, airy dishwater-like head. Perfumy peachy hoppy nose. Fairly sweet with clean hard crystal malt character. Medium bodied with a tad of citrus. Low bitterness. With it’s ultra-primitive malt character it’s only marginally better than than the rice lagers of southern China.

2004 or 2005 bottle from Liquor Mart, consumed on 10/12/2005. Pours a coppery-amber color, very clear. Massive bubbles rising, with a thin, white head that barely even covers and recedes quickly to a touch on the edges. Smells of light berries, touch of honey wheat and a hint of lightly toasted grains. Deep barley smell is nice, but faint. Can’t find any hops in the nose. Yeast is not apparent. Flavor begins with some dough/breadiness, a touch of grassy/hay-like hops and then gets moderately sweet. Hops on the end, with some plastic as well. Kind of buttery. Though there is some hops bitterness, malt presence goes nowhere but downhill from the start. Mouthfeel is poor - huge bubbles bother my throat and create a broken consistency.. Medium-light to light body. Bits of spotty lacing. Not crisp on the end. Begins to get soapy the more I drink. Not enough body. I’ll stop now. . . .