Bison Organic Red Ale

Brewed by Bison Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Berkeley, California USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Seems to almost have more hops than malts, which makes since given this description. Very very heady. Really pretty decent.

Pours with a thin white head. The color of the beer is an attractive mellow redish brown. Smells distinictly malty. The taste is of far too much cascade added early in the boil thus allowing the hop to dominate but not bitter the beer and also subsequently masking the malt flavors.

UPDATED: SEP 22, 2007 Dark bronze-orange with a fine light tan head. Caramelized orange peel hop character with a fresh grain profile over a touch of roasted fruit and malt sweetness. Very grain-forward flavors with a pleasant bit of astringency. Few roasted malt flavors and malt sweetness in this profile--a welcome change. Mild, well-integrated bitterness with a light, well-balanced body.

Pours bronze-red, with a HUGE fluffy head. Aroma is pretty hoppy. Flavor is pretty good, well balanced with nice hops and malts. The palate is very creamy, interesting. I too am wondering why it was rated so low. One of the best amber ales I’ve ever had.

Beautiful milky red amber. Nice lasting creamy head thats more typical in a stout. Coats the mouth rather nicely more so than I remember from similar beers. Very nice through and through. At 6% I think it masks it extremely well.

Bottle: Super murky with chunks and a monster tan head! Even with the most gentle pour, I had about an inch of beer and the rest of the glass was suds. I had to scopp some out because it wouldn’t die down. It has a wonderfully hoppy aroma of citrus, pine needles and dust. The taste is bitter hoppy as well, but it seems that the bitterness is just bitter with not much character or flavor to it. Nevertheless, I still like it. The medium body is nice and the feel has a dry finish. The aftertaste has some weird bitter cardboard taste to it which I could do without.

04-Jan-08 (22-oz bottle: Purchased 23-Dec-07 for $3.99 at the Pizza Port Bottle Shop in Carlsbad, CA) Well, finally a good bottle of this beer. No infections, no soapy flavor. Malts are dry and toasty with background layers of baker’s chocolate, unsweet caramel, and gentle roast emerging in the evolution for a dry and clean finish. Hops are always in perfect balance, providing moderate bitterness and pleasant, West Coast-style piney hop flavor. Well-attenuated with virtually no residual sugar or caramely malt flavors getting in the way. Medium in body and carbonation level, but this just has a round, substantial mouthfeel. The aroma is toasty and slightly caramely, but not sweet, and the hops has less presence than in the flavor. Visually, the beer is a gorgeous marriage of dark-orange and red hues with full haziness that contributes to a bright, translucent glow. Beige head pours to half an inch, settling to a thin but full layer and leaving a few rings of lace on the glass. Overall, this is a really nice beer, very flavorful and immensely enjoyable. I’m glad that I was finally able to try a healthy bottle.

20-Apr-06 (22 oz bottle) Well, another shot with this beer, and though it’s not infected, the hops is very floral and somewhat soapy to me, so I’m still not enjoying this. Still need a good bottle.

27-Mar-05 (22 oz bottle: BevMo in La Jolla, CA) I don’t know, this doesn’t seem right here. The nose very much reminds me of those hot pale green peppers they put on the side of each Papa John’s pizza, kind of a pickled spiciness. No "red ale" should smell like this. I did buy this at BevMo, and it really seems like an adventure when you buy beers at BevMo as my "infected" hit rate is much higher here than anywhere else. Okay, and the flavor is spicy, peppery and fairly citrusy and tart. This beer has to be bad. Standard amber color, fully clear, with an off-white head that fades to a broken, thin layer. A moderate amount of draped lacing clings to the glass. Definitely requires a rerate. (3, 3, 2, 2, 4 = 1.5)

This is the most under-rated beer I’ve yet had in 2006, but remember that I am a proud hophead. First of all, the guys at Bison must be color-blind because this beer is dark straw, not even a hint of red. The aroma is very highly hopped, with fruit, black peppery and floral spicy notes. Definite 9 for aroma. The flavor is hoppy and citric, with grapefruit and canteloupe hints. Medium palate. Gets hoppier with more tropical notes as it warms. I would, and I will, drink this again. In fact, I’m going back to Total Wine tomorrow to get more of this.

A fresh aroma of hop and caramel styled malt gently greets my nose. Color is a glowing red with a thin patchy layer of head. The drink itself has a medium body and mouthfeel with a slight bitterness that will linger well after its been consumed. Some very weak touches of caramel malt cross my tastebuds even though i find this a pretty sweet amber ale. Nice brew, i can’t wait to get ahold of other Bison beers.

Dark cranbeery body with a small white head. Smell is delectable, fragrant: juniper, spicy, chocolate and peanuts. Taste is full, with sweet cocoa, pumpkin seed, bittering cofee, clove, coriander and peanuts. Fun beer, complex and flavorful -- very suprising for an amber ale. Aftertaste is pleasant chocolate and dry hops. Shared from a bomber with my great friend jgb9348.