Northwoods Red Cedar Ale

nose of light resin, lightly floral hops. appearance is light amber. nose also contains a sticky, nearly sickly sweet caramel note, yet another malt extract bomb from this ’brewery’. still, flavor is nearly well hopped with some bitterness to comfort me. well carb’d and by far the best body from any of their roster so far.

Tap at the brewpub. Amber/reddish color, had a decent lasting white head. Very nice caramelly, fruity aroma, dark friuts that is. Nice malt base to it, sweet, rich with a good shot of hops in the finish, very tasty brew, might have a new brewer or something but the beers are tasting much better than the last time I had them.

In the bottle thanks to hurrisnow. This does indeed pour somewhat reddish in color, but I really get no cedar aroma at all. No head. A bolus of diacetyl emerges if you try to smell this. Butter, rancid butter. The flavor reveals some serious fermentation temperature mistakes here. I’m glad I only had to drink about 2 ounces of this frankenstein. Crapola indeed.

Appearance: Pours a hazy, red-amber body with a small white head. Smell: Faint caramel with, well let me put it this way: "Parkay". Taste: I don’t know where to begin. Weak, grainy flavor. Faint whisper of hops on the finish. Mostly, though, it’s butter through and through. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: A beer riddled with problems.

Date: 09/08/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

hazy dark amber, wispy beige head, strong sweet dyactyl aroma, slick body, rich buttered caramel flavor, light balancing bitterness, would go great with microwave popcorn, or on microwave popcorn,

Aroma: 3/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 4/10; Palate: 4/10; Overall: 6/20
Rating: 1.8/5.0
Drinkability: 5/10
Score: 4

Bottle from brewpub: Pours a transparent amber orange with a thin, wispy-lacing off-white head. Aroma of strange tart sauerkraut and toasted caramel malt. It took a while for me to get past the aroma and actually take a sip. Body has some faintly sweet grainy notes and earthy bittering hops toward a watery finish. It seems infected from the aroma, but I don’t taste it as much in the body, although it is pretty watery.

Bottle thanks to Skyview! Poured clear medium orange with a short, uniform cap of beige head. Aroma was of over-the-top artificially-sweetened caramel, lightly-toasted.. not sure where the "high hop aroma" is, but there was mild pine and grassy action going on. Flavor was nuttier than the aroma.. still sweet with lots of caramel and some fruit juices flare just before the finish.. mild herbal and grassy bitterness. Lighter-bodied, somewhat watery on the front half of the palate.. left a slick, but medium-length sweet finish. This was OK, and certainly drinkable.

Pours a dark clean amber with a fairly large off white head that fades rather quickly. Aroma has some hints of nuts, malts, and hops. Flavor is metallic malts, bitter hops, and light nutty hints. Finish is quite dry and bitter. Not bad but nothing special.