Otter Creek Winter Red Ale

Brewery: Otter Creek Brewing
Location: Middlebury, VT
Style: Amber
Brewery Website
Rating: B

I'm a little late in getting this review posted, but our tasting for today is the Otter Creek Winter Red Ale. The Winter Red pours up a deep amber-chestnut in color with a short, off-white head. The nose finds citrus and herbal hops notes, fresh-baked bread and some malt syrup.

The palate finds a flavor progression that starts with fruity hops, moves to a sharp steely/mineral note and ends up at an oily, bitter hops bite with some pine resin. There is a dry, toasted malt note in the background with a hint of residual sweetness. The Otter Creek Winter Red has a medium-heavy body (a bit heavier than your typical amber) with some resiny astringency. The finish sees the strong mineral bite clinging on with hints of pine, pretzel and malt syrup.

The Otter Creek Winter Red Ale drinks like an amped-up version of their flagship Copper Ale, but it seems a bit out of balance to me. The hops here is all bite with not as much flavor as I would have liked, and the mineral note here is overpowering. The malt ends up being drowned out under all of this. I understand what Otter Creek is trying to do here by having a big amber for their winter seasonal, I just would have liked to see more balance.

Lagunitas Censored Copper Ale

Brewery: Lagunitas Brewing Company
Location: Petaluma, CA
Style: Amber
Brewery Website
Rating: A

Up for review today is the Censored Copper Ale from Lagunitas. The Censored Copper Ale pours up a deep amber color with hints of ruby and quite a bit of fizzy bubbles. The head is clumpy, off-white foam. The nose detects some saltiness along with hints of caramel and some fruity/piny hops.

The palate finds crisp maltiness well-balanced with resinous piny hops. The malt notes are wheat toast along with some caramel. There is a hint of sweetness that fills out the flavor and mouthfeel nicely. The Censored Copper Ale has a rich, medium body with some crisp carbonation.the finish has lingering bitter hops highlighted by toast and caramel.

The Lagunitas Censored Copper Ale is a well balanced amber with a solid hop bite in balance with a nice maltiness. The crisp carbonation balances out a relatively full mouthfeel for an amber that makes this beer rich without being too heavy. This is a great beer for fans of hoppy ambers. Highly recommended.

Otter Creek Irish Red Ale

Brewery: Otter Creek Brewing
Location: Middlebury, VT
Style: Amber
Brewery Website
Rating: B

Today's tasting is Otter Creek's new winter seasonal, the Winter Red Ale. Thw Winter Red is a deep chestnut-amber in color with a short, off-white head. The nose finds citrus and herbal hops notes. There are also aromas of fresh-baked bread and malt syrup.

On the palate there is a quick taste of fruity hops which moves into a sharp steely/mineral note that is paired with an oily, bitter hops bite that has a touch of pine. A dry, toasted malt note sits in the background. A touch of residual sweetness is hinted at as well. The Winter Red Ale has a medium-heavy body that is a bit heavier than the typical amber. There is also a significant astringent oiliness. The finish sees the strong mineral bite clinging on with undertones of pine, pretzel and malt syrup.

Otter Creek seems like they're going for an amped up version of their flagship beer, their Copper Ale, with the Winter Red. While it does hit the mark on most accounts, the execution seems to be a bit out of balance for my tastes. The hops seems like it's all bite without much in the way of aromatics on the palate, and this ends up drowning out the malt. I also found the mineral note (likely from the resinous hops) to be a bit overpowering. Overall, the Otter Creek Winter Red Ale is worth a try if you're looking for a heavier beer for the winter that is more hops-forward, but personally I'd love to see more aroma hops and malt in the final mix.

Ithaca Cascazilla

Watch out Tokyo! Today, Beer! reviews Ithaca's Cascazilla:

Brewery: Ithaca Beer Company

Location: Ithaca, NY

Style: Amber

Brewery Website

Rating: B

As one can guess by the name, Ithaca's Cascazilla is a hoppy amber that is brewed with a boatload of Cascade hops.Cascazilla is a dark, cloudy amber-brown in color with a clumpy tan head. The nose has everything you expect from Cascades with sweet citrus, grapefruit and lemon oil notes.

The palate finds pretzel malt and a touch of sweetness up front. Fruity hops and sweet cereal are prominent notes as well. Ruby red grapefruit and lemonade are notable on the fruity hops side and a touch of herbal hops blends in and hints at lemongrass as well. There is some bitter hops as well, but that is way in the background. Cascazilla is medium-bodied, and juicy with a slight syrupy cling. The finish has a slightly toasted malt with sweet citrus notes.

Cascazilla is a nice look at Cascade hops without the big bitter kick. There is a bit too much sweetness here for my tastes, and I would like to see a bit more of a bite to balance things out. Having said that, this is a nice amber and a good intro to Cascade hops without the bitter bite of a big imperial IPA.

Tröegs HopBack Amber Ale

Brewery: Tröegs Brewing Company

Location: Harrisburg, PA
Style: Amber
Brewery Website
Rating: B+

Today's beer tasting goes out to all my friends in the Harrisburg area. On deck today is the HopBack Amber from Tröegs (umlaut will be omitted henceforth for ease of typing...). The HopBack Amber is a golden/ruddy brown in color with a short, off-white head. Lots of fine bubbles can be seen rising in the glass. The nose detects sweetness along with some citrus that combine to give the impression of lemonade. A faint aroma of wheat bread sits in the background.

On the palate there is a citrus hops note up front. Wheat bread and pretzel maltiness build. The hops give a moderate level of bitterness and more of the lemonade flavor to match the nose. There is some notable sweetness here as well. The HopBack Amber has a medium body with a nice carbonated fizziness. The finish is fairly short with more pretzel and lemonade, along with a light bitter undertone.

Troegs HopBack is a nice hoppy amber with a solid maltiness. The only thing I'd change is to roll back the sweetness here which I think is a bit too much. The Troegs Hop Back is a very good drinkable amber, but there is definitely the potential for excellence here.

Thirsty Dog Hoppus Maximus

Brewery: Thirsty Dog Brewing Co.
Location: Akron, OH
Style: Amber
Brewery Website
Rating: B+

Today's beer tasting is the Hoppus Maximus from Thirsty Dog.  The Hoppus Maximus is copper colored with a few fine bubbles that rise in the glass. The head is rather short, off-white in color, and bubbly. The nose seemed a bit on the faint side, with citrus and herbal hops notes as well as an earthy grain malt note.

On the palate, the Hoppus Maximus has a bitter hop bite along with some wheaty malt notes up front. There are supporting notes of salt, earth and mineral water, but the bitter hops really run the show here along with a touch of pine. The finish has the bitter hops continue on along with a pretzel-like malt note. The Hoppus Maximus is medium-bodied with some tannin-like astringency.

The Hoppus Maximus is another solid showing from Thirsty Dog. This a highly-hopped amber, and at only 5% ABV is a worthy session beer for hopheads, especially if you like a bitter beer that bites back. Well worth checking out if this is your kind of beer.

Newport Storm Cyclone Series Luke India Style Red Ale

Brewery: Coastal Extreme Brewing Co.
Location: Newport, RI
Style: Amber
Brewery Website
Rating: C+

Today we have a brew from my home state of Rhode Island. Luke is from the Newport Storm Cyclone Series, which is a line of limited release beers generally brewed in a big style. Cyclone Luke is a deep amber red/brown in color, similar to cherry wood, with a slight haze. The tan head pours very thick and foamy. The nose has butter, bread and tart lambic notes.

On the palate, Luke's flavor is dominated by a strong buttered-popcorn flavor. There are smoky notes, bitter hops and some alcohol on the palate as well. The bitter character is reminiscent of unsweetened dark chocolate. Supporting notes of earthiness and wood are present as well. The Luke India Red Ale has a medium body with a bit of astringency. The finish is butter and bitter notes.

To me, this one is a bit of a swing and miss for Newport Storm. There are some nice flavors here, but the strong buttery diacetyl flavor clashes with the strong bitter hops. If you like buttery beer, then you may like this. I just can't get into it myself.

Red Seal Ale

Brewery: North Coast Brewing Co.
Style: Amber
Location: Fort Bragg, CA
Brewery Website
Rating: A-

Being a New Englander, the majority of the microbrews that are available locally are from the New England and Mid-Atlantic areas. Thankfully, we can find a handful of the better west coast beers around my parts. Red Seal Ale from North Coast Brewing is a beer that's well worth searching out.

The Red Seal Ale pours a hazy amber-brown in the glass. An average pour leaves a thick, golden-tan head which leaves a sticky lacing as it subsides. The nose has fruity hops along with almond and mineral notes.

The initial flavors that show through are sweet malt and fruity hops. Bitter notes develop and pick up in intensity after a few sips. The Red Seal has some mild acidity. There are flavors of yeast, seaweed/iodine as well as mineral notes. The Red Seal Ale has a medium body with some creaminess. The finish is bitter hops with a crisp minerality.

While technically billed as an amber, the Red Seal Ale drinks like a good American Pale Ale. Fans of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale should hunt down some Red Seal (no pun intended). This is a classic American ale.