Mendocino Raptor Red Lager

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

Bottle. There’s more malt than hops in the flavor, but it’s easy to drink and has a clean finish. Not a lot going on, light body. Hops really don’t get to you until the finish where there’s a nice balance.

I saw this new Mendocino beer sitting on the shelves and thought to myself I needed to try it, if not for the Oakesian "get my hands on anything" mantra, for the getting back on top of the top raters of Mendocino mantra. This beer pours a light yellow hue at first but takes on a slight brownish red hue. I love how they construed this to be a red lager. I would love to know what beer goggles they were looking through. The head is a white filmy mess which dissipates quickly and leaves a little foam island for the remainder of this beer. The aroma is malty at first, but quickly wanes into a faint sweetness. Perhaps a slight hint of wood, but really a tiny fruity sweetness and thats all. The flavor is much of the same... some sweet front, almost a cranberryish mid taste, then a dry sweet finish. There's little presence of hops here. This reminds me of drinking straight out of a gatorade bottle. Little flavor presence. Not a bad beer, dont get me wrong, just very little TO the beer to get into detail about.

Only slightly hazy; apricot-colored with a decent, lasting head and nice lace. Rich, hoppy nose -- citrusy. Soft texture and mild carbonation. Sweet malts (sugar cereal, sweet lactose, rising bread dough), but with somewhat of a dark-toast sharpness. Mild hops (flowers and herbs), but they're decent. Some slightly soapy off-flavors, but not too bothersome. Has a curious sharpness to it ... "tart toast," if you will.

Slight diacetyl on the nose, sorta thin, cereal like malt flavor, finishes with some all right tangy malt/hop interplay but none the less, very AVERAGE.

Thsi beer isn't as bad as everyone thinks, but it is what it is. A tinny, acidic aroma but past that it's a refreshing beer. That is good when it's 90 degrees in the beginning of friggin March. Nice malty finish.

Bottle pours golden with thinly vailed dishwater like head.   Good carbonation, attractive lacing.   Yeasty/bready notes make up the aroma.   Astringint maltiness up front, giving way to a slightly bitter tone.   Finish is dry, but a cloying metallic taste is distracting.   Drinkable, but not one I would have again.   Thanks goes out to herbjones for the trade!

dimpled mug: aggressively carbonated rusty amber body with big bleach white head. Light caramely, bready nose with intermittent notes of earthy hops. toasty malt profile comes on early and strong, fading into an earthy, spiced hop bitterness, then back to a dry toasted barley sweetness that fills the mouth. a bit of stickyness holds the malty sweetness on well after downing it.

balanced aroma, good strong carbonation but where does the red come in? nice body, hints of creaminess and a bitter resiny hop finish