Mendocino Red Tail Ale

Brewed by Mendocino Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Hopland, California USA

A nice blend between the sweet smooth taste of an amber with a nice hop backing of an ale. A good easy drinker.

Bottle. Poured a hazy, unfiltered deep amber with a frothy almond color head. Honeyed cereal malt and applesauce aroma. Smooth toasty cereal and caramel malts dominate the flavor, with some grassy hops underneath. Not too bad, certainly drinkable, but nonetheless a "bargain" supermarket "craft" beer.

Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a hazy caramel-amber color with a medium sized caramel colored head. The aroma was sour nutty malts and fruity and floral hops. The flavor was nutty, malty and had a nice floral and fruity hop mix that was reasonably strong. The finish is bitter and hoppy but pleasant. I have had the draft as well and found that the hops stand out better in that version but both are nice.

2 ounce sample at 99 Bottles beer tasting. Color is gold tending toward orange. The aroma is of yeast and spices. The flavor has a kick or bite to it and tastes somewhat like a pretzel. I like it but it tastes less like other ambers I have had; it is stonger-bodied, just staying away from harsh and overpowering. Mendocino representative Bill Hemmen claims that is due to the use of two-row malted barley rather than six-row malted barley. It has a drier finish than I am used to finding in an amber.

Bottle poured a clear amber with a small lasting amber head. Aromas of bread, light carmel and a hint of fruitiness. Palate was light to medium bodied and smooth. Flavors of bread, carmel and some light earthiness with a smooth moderatly bitter finish.

A decent red/amber ale. Pours to a lighter amber color with not much head. Goes down smooth with a nice taste and decent hops.

Bottle Light amber color, little head, decent malts, that are medium in density, decent hops, not a bad brew but nothing mind blowing either.

Excellent beer. Pours a dark amber color with little to no head. Goes down very smooth with explosive tastes of hops and roasted spices. A excellent brew that I highly recommend.