Watch City Mongrel American Red IPA

~8oz pour from cask @ brewpub. Big foamy and sticky head. Color is red and the body is relatively clean. Aroma is AWESOME with a mix of soft hops and just the right amount of caramel sweetness. Perfect blend of soft citrus and soft caramel. All this makes an overall perfume-y flowers aroma. Of course the cask gives off a very under-carbonated body, works kind of nice here. Taste is similarly a great interplay. However, with the light carbonation it seems either really original and slightly weird. Leaves a hoppy aftertaste. Not a thirst quencher, but returnable and definitely recommended.

NERAX 2005 Deep copper/brown in color with no head. Aroma and flavor of sweet malt and citrus hops.

Tap@Watch City Brewing, Waltham, Ma. Sweet and caramelly to start, slightly buttery. Syruppy, nectary, piney hops. Hop leaf bitterness in the finish. A touch sticky i though.

On draught at the brewpub, 6/29/2005. The brewer’s notes say this is brewed with 15 different malts and I can believe it. The color is a dark brown with some auburn-magenta highlights on the edges, rather transluscent. Looks like a porter. Has a small off-white head on it, that recedes to a light cover, but is retained there. Some lacing is provided. Aroma of light roast, bits of chocolate and light floral hops. A bit of pale malt sugariness and some earthy notes as well. Mainly hops and light coffee though. Flavor begins with a chewy, lightly syrupy (in a pleasant way) chocolate, with a smattering of easygoing coffee-roast. Mint, pine and floral notes from the hops, which are quite apparent and only lightly bitter. Dries out a good deal on the finish, with some dirty/earthy notes, brown bread and cinnamon. Body is medium-full with no thinning and the mouthfeel is lightly chewy, with low carbonation, big airy bubbles lazily exploding in the mouth. I’m never a huge fan of chocolate and American hops, but this one works pretty well, as everything is fairly understated. Good mouthfeel and body, anyways. I bet there’s some rye in here. . .

NERAX 2005, on cask: Hazy brown, orange color, spicy pine aroma, starts and ends bitter, juicy mouthfeel, long aftertaste.

From old notes , Tap @ Brewpub. Good nose, Lite coffee, tootsie roll, woody, pine. Clean orangy brown color. Small head that faded. Sweet bitter flavors, Chocolate/coffee with a metallic bitterness. Thicker bodied, creamy mouthfeel, bitter finish that hung on for a while. Kind of a piney brown ale. Flavor faded as it warmed.

Growler from brewpub. Pour is a clear reddish brown, with a thick tan head that slowly receeds to leave good lacing. Aroma is big on the malts (not a surprise since the brew has 15 different malts in it) - a lot of chocolate, some roastiness, and a slight hint of smokiness appears. Flavor has a huge malty front, mixing up all the flavors mentioned above, and ends with a good floral hop blast. Full body, lot's of complex flavors, and dangerously drinkable.