Big River Grille Irish Red Ale

Formerly brewed at Big River Grille & Brewing Works Chattanooga (Gordon Biersch)
Style: Irish Ale
Chattanooga, Tennessee USA

Serve in English pint

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On tap at BR-Nashville. Amber red pour with a soft white head. Aroma was malty. Little hop presence. Taste was ok but could have used a little more hop presence.

On tap ’seasonal’ at Big River Grille, Nashville. Pours dark red amber colour, leaves a little head and lacing. Aroma and flavour are on the malty side, but mild. Mild for an Irish Ale.

Appearance: Pours a clear, reddish-amber body with a small, off-white head. Smell: Fruity, lightly malty nose with some plumskin and citrus notes and slight floral hints. Taste: Light caramel maltiness with a touch of burnt biscuit crusts. Small sip of plum and cranberry fruit juices. Floral, citrusy hops with a medium bitterness. The beer finishes with a growing, lingering grainy tannic taste. Oh, who am I kidding, it’s astringent. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: No thanks! The accumulating astringency greatly detracts from this being as easy-drinking as I’d like.

Bottle, 12 oz. Amber color with a beige head. Mostly malty aroma wtih some hops. Sweet at first on the palate, then some hop bitterness kicks in. Drinkable.

Bottle, picked up in Chattanooga. Poured clear reddish-caramel with a medium cap of beige head. The aroma picked up sweet candied caramel and darker fruits with dusty floral accents.. sweeter overall and quite nice. The flavor had sweet caramel at the core with floral and medium-skinned fruity bitterness.. very sweet at the back-end, and quite bitter. Lighter-bodied on the palate and quite bitter with an artificial aire to the sweetness.. felt OK.

Sampler at the Nashville location - Poured a reddish amber in color with no head or carbonation. Aroma was of slightly sour malts and very little hops. Flavor was medium malty with some hop bitterness, but not enough to provide balance for the malt. Some bitterness on the finish. The sour aftertaste is a major distraction.

(On tap) Nashville. Clear, fully golden with a creamy, off-white head. Rather weak aroma of malt. Light-bodied with some caramel malt and a somewhat irritating bitter hopping which is utterly raw and unsophisticated. Vaguely moldy. 290306

Floral hoppy, good and dry, with pronounced bitterness. Reddish, then Very lacy. An average beer but certainly Decent for its style. More of an American red ale

Not as well balanced as the others in the mix. I got it the day after they opened the tap and it still needed just a bit more time to open up. It had great texture and color. Not a strong nose on the beer. Decent, but not my favorite.

Isn’t a huge amount of malt and tastes a bit musty and peat-ish. Has a strange transition from the initial flavor to the finish, from an earthiness to a sudden bitter kick.