Tied House Face Off Red

Brewed by Redwood Coast Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Mountain View, California USA

Draft at the mountain view location. Amber pour, and some white head. Aroma is sweet caramel malt, small amount of bready / biscuit malt. Tasted very standard, but just too sweet in my opinion.

16 ounce sample on tap at the San Jose location. Aroma is quite malty, caramelly with some mild fruitiness. There is also a touch of buttery diacetyl and light metal. Ringwood? Transparent orange-amber body with a small off-yellow head with light lacing present. Slightly astringent start, which becomes quite malty, burnt, and toasty. A little buttery diacetyl is also in there. A light, herbal hoppy bitterness is present in the finish. Pretty boring, and a bit flawed.

Draught. Pours dark amber with a small white head. Aroma is caramel malt, citrus hops, and apple. Flavor is the same, plus a bit of roasted malt. Moderately hopped, with an odd apple maltiness and butteriness that seems like a flaw, although it’s more prominent on some occasions that I’ve had this beer than on others.

(Sampler at the San Jose location) Face Off Red is a red-amber ale with a fleeting white head. The aroma is spicy and herbal, like an ESB. It is medium-light in body, pretty smooth, and perhaps a bit chalky. The flavor is well blended and balanced, with a decent bitterness.

Outstanding amber here. Huge malty aroma and flavor. Tons and tons of roasted malt, very rich beer. Body is smooth and full, but not too heavy. Gorgeous red color. Why the heck is this beer only a 3??? Looks like the rest of the ratings are 7+ months old. Maybe this brew just needed some time to mellow out. Or maybe with the most recent batch they’ve finally got the recipe down. Because right now... it is SUPERB. One of the best ambers I’ve ever tasted.

Draft at the San Jose brewery. Looks ok; medium ruddy amber with a suggestion of head for a minute. None of their beers really holds a head. At first, this beer seemed sour; there was soap and aluminum in there and it was disappointing. After a couple drinks, though, it started to stake out a bit of a flavor profile--more of a rye-like sourness and a moderately interesting herbal hop finish. Curious about their hop use, there’s never any classic citric bitterness or resinous overtone, and it’s always clingy. May have more to do with their ale/lager yeast alloy, smearing the flavor note there.

aroma is weak. little cinnamon or maple syrup. smell is medium brown to orange color. flavor inital syrupiness but watery & bland. flavor has a bit of spice little corriander. and maybe a little pepper. peppered stout sounds good

Damned nice for something brewed for a hocky arena! I drink more than my fair share of the Tied House Amber and Dark and was pleasantly surprised by this one. We thank the bar guys that poured it in case we needed to try it. It's very much in the family of the Amber and the Dark ales. A bit more hoppy with good if a bit lighter color. I'd still go for either of its cousins, depending (Amber for Pizza at Premier where it's on tap or Dark at the bar in San Jose.)