Oak Creek King Crimson Imperial Red Ale

On tap @ brewery - Pours a clear reddish-amber color with a small off white head. Nice lacing. Aroma is floral hops and light malt. Flavor is sweet toasted malt and hops. A smooth, medium body beer. I’d rather Oak Creek bottles this beer than the other 5 regular beers. A decent beer.

oak creek strong red ale on tap at papago... clear to almost slightly hazy coppery amber color with a perfectly white head. the aroma is surprisingly... faint?... caramel, toasted brown sugar, roasted nuts, earthiness and some cooked vegetable stock smell. the palate is dry... no way is this batch 9.5%... flavor notes of grass, mild non resinous pine, caramel/brown sugar maltiness, biscuity/baking powder, toasted nuts and earthy woodiness. it is not nearly as robust as i would have expected coming from an imperial but rather it is refreshing and dry??? the medium body feels a bit flat on the tongue... 5/4/6/3/13/3.1

Tap at the brewery (not the restaurant). Deep red color that actually looks like a brown ale. Thin, off-white head. Nose is sweet. Taste starts off like a mouthful of brown sugar, followed by alcohol, graham crackers, and then American hop bitterness. Good but not great mouthfeel. Nice balance of malt and hops stays long on the palate. This is an excellent beer but would be nearly perfect (in my sometimes humble opinion) if it had a dose of floral hops to the nose and taste.

Sampled @ 9th AZ Strong Beer Festival. Caramel aroma along with some alcohol on the nose. Amber body with tan head. Caramel malt candy and alcohol warms you up. Not really what you need on a hot sping day in the desert. But would make a good night cap brew.

On tap at the AZ Strong Beer fest. Pours clear amber with a light tan head. The nose is caramel malt and iced tea. The taste is similar with an earthy hops finish. Medium bodied. Decent.

On tap at AZ strong beer fest. Pours a nice red with a small off white head. Aroma if caramel, malt and hops. Flavor was caramel, malt and hops. NIce rich malt and hop flavors with some biscuit. Good brew.

tap at the brewpub - The sign in the brewery and the bartender both said this batch of King Crimson was only 6% abv. I don’t know. It seemed stronger. Pours dark red with a one finger head. The aroma is roast caramel malt and a hint of citrus. The rich caramel malt flavor is well balanced by a fruity citrus hops bite. This medium bodied ale has a pleasant hop finish. It’s easily the best brew I had in the sampler.

Sampled at the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild 2008 Strong Beer Fest, on February 17, at the Mesa Amphitheatre.