Papago El Diablo Rojo

Formerly brewed at Sonoran Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Phoenix, Arizona USA

I love finding hidden gems, and as the highest rated brew for an outstanding, undervisited brewpub, I found just that. Fresh hop aroma, with some citrus. Very nice. Dark, dirty dish water copper color. Small, off-white head. Nice hoppiness to it. Sweet and very enjoyable. Can tell it is higher in alcohol in the initial mouthfeel. I love this brew. Very well balanced. Excellent and very quaffable. My Dad who was with me suggested I only sample as much as I needed to rate it. My response was that I was enjoying it to much not to drink the whole pint.

Clear dark amber body with a beige head that leaves nice lacing. Aroma is medium sweet, grapefruit, caramel, some alcohol. Taste is medium sweet, grapefruit/pine, some herbal, light caramel. Smooth light-medium body. Unbalanced, in a manner that I cannot fully embrace.

09.29.05 GABF Clear, reddish copper with a lingering white film. Aroma is strongly resinous, piney, and a touch of earth/dirt/cardboard. Verging on sweet, it’s reminding me of some Stone goodies. Big hop assault with pine, candle shop, detergent; below all that is a dry cracker maltiness that fails to really keep up with the show. Feels somewhat thick despite it’s dry and bitter finish. Certainly would lead me to try other Papago brews.

What you’d call a green aroma, very citric yet full of tree bark and pine. The pour is orange to brown, the head white and receding to cover. Generous bready, toasty, biscuity toffee malts. Bittersweet balance, the fullest body I’ve seen from Papago and the carbonation to fit unlike the wheatwine. An active mouthfeel I’d say. Long citrus finish with a earthy tang, but thankfully nothing vegetal. Good stuff, clean, hoppy yet with enough supporting malts to be coherent.

GABF 2005. Clear copper body with a lasting, cottony white head. Sprucy nose with caramel and pale malt notes. Lots of woodsy hop character in the flavor. Semi-dry and very bitter with little malt balance. Enjoyable as a straight-up hop onslaught.

In a blind tastes test, I would have guessed this is Arrogant Bastard, and that’s a good thing! Big sweet hop and alcohol flavor. Malty, smooth finish. A great beer.

Dark brown/amber color with little head. Has some nice fresh hops aromas. Caramely hops and malt flavors with good crispness and a dry finish.

(Draft: 2005 Stone 9th Anniversary Festival in Escondido, CA) Sweet malt and lots of grapefruit and hops in the nose. Wow, very aromatic and nicely balanced. The sweet and caramely malt provides a nice base and is in balance initially with the hoppy and grapefruit flavor, but the hops dominates the finish. Medium-full body, sweet on the palate, but with all the hops, it’s never sticky and finishes with a fair crispness. Dark amber in color, but the fairly hazy appearance surprises me. Small off-white head settles to a ring, but leaves some patchy lacing. A very nice beer, but I really love "double reds", and this one fell short of the lofty standards set by the elite in this class. Nevertheless, it’s my second favorite beer of the festival.