Town Hall Roscommon Red

Brewed by Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery
Style: Irish Ale
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA

On-cask at the brewpub: Gorgeously deep orange, a casked cloud at first, eventually clearing up to be quite clear. Pencil high cap of soft, super smoothed over ivory foam that stays forever and a day. Lacing cakes itself to the glass like a fine frosting. Aroma is sweet with a fruity apple, bready thing with a nice sense of grains to it. Fresh and hearty with notes to floral hops, oats, and some nuts. Taste is fairly broad in a sweet, bready malt with a favorable grain flavor thats super fresh and well rounded from the warmer temp. Soft and lightly chewy in a sweet breaded cereal tone of oats and barley with notes of apple and maple. Feel is super smooth and full with a wondefully succulant texture just filling the palate with sublime warmth and bready sweetness. Not quite the drinker as the tap version. However, the warmth, texture, and body isn’t present anywhere except for the cask draught, making the cask version a much more fulfilling experience. The tap version didn’t even come close to what I got out of the cask. Extraordinarily different between the two. So I recommend the cask side for this Irish Red.

Aroma is almost nil, just light medium malts. Candied pecans, roasted peanuts, and yes- as the description boasts, "caramel malt sweetness." Mouthfeel is rich but not heavy, with a sweet light-hopped finish. I’m sure that my overactive imagination is supplying the notes of smoked peat and wet hay, so I won’t mention those. My overall impression is so high because I finished my first pint without pausing to consider what was going on--this is a knockout sessioner.

Dry, doughy malt aroma. Crystal clear dark body. Small, off-white head that isn’t lasting at all. No head. Some zingy hops. Nice color. Excellent flavor. Outstanding.

Irish red. Just had this style from a home brewer at my work and his was more impresse than I thought it would be. This one is sweet, definitely leaning towards the malty side. I tasted tootsie roll. Not bad, I would consider this a dessert type beer. Toasted nuts as well. Ouch; it hurts when I think of that! Decent offering.

Cask: Slight cherry candy nose and just a little sweeter on the tongue. A nice alternative to the Pub Ale when looking for a session ale lighter than the scotch ale. Not complex, but good as a stock quaffer. Benefits from the cask pour, I think.

Clear and thoroughly crimson color, in the appearance, with a flush, lush, creamy head...good enough, I say. Aroma: fruity, malty, rather mild, but projects enough malt character to provide pleasure. Taste: Smooth and sweet, malt-dominated, little hops, if any, rich and delicious, ...body is medium, finish is light, nutty, fruity, malt-rich. A very easy drinking ale, and fully in the Irish Red style...note perfect, I think...tasty, and rewarding...quaffable, I can drink this and be happy...as long as there’s no bagpiper playing "Danny Boy" right next to me...

Pours a very clear copper red color that catches the light nicely. Two inches of nearly tan suds die down in short order to just a sparse cap and a bit of a ring. Almost no lacing. The aroma is of a mild caramel with a trace of tangy fruit. The flavor is of a light husk-y graininess and mild sweet caramel, along with a tart/sweet fruitiness. Mid sip, I find some floral hops. The finish starts out ever so slightly dry with some subdued hop bitterness, but the aftertaste is a truly pleasant residual sweetness. Fairly light bodied and softly carbonated, this beer is quite drinkable.

Dark red color with a creamy head. Very grain filled aroma. The grain in the taste rings clear as fresh grain, not the muddled variety found in bad pale lagers. Some sweet malt in the background. It’s better than most Irish Ales, but still didn’t do it for me.