Carlow OHaras Irish Red

(330 ml bottle (best before end 9/09) from McKean and Charles) Pours dark brownish amber with two fingers or so of rocky biege head. Aroma of vanilla, brown sugar and caramel. Mouthfeel fairly smooth, kind of pebbly, light-medium heft. Flavor of vanilla, caramel and brown sugar with kind of a light chocolate nuttiness. Lightly eggy. Lightly bitter. Not bad but nothing to write home about. Much along the lines of a brown ale.

Highly dissapointing yet quite drinkable. Poured out a large light brown crown that can get revived nicely with a swirl of the glass. A respectable ammount of messy lacing. The brew is a mahogony colour (very nice) and very clear. Initial smells of coffee were a let down but it does an an interesting dimension to the aroma which also has some toasted caramel malts. Too bad it’s weak overall. (added later - the aroma obviously strengthens due to warming and gives out some hazelnutish aroma I think) Taste is weak aside from early coffee and toasted malts. Boring and sort of watery...I’ve turned myself off of the coffee flavours recently as I’m quite sick of them being overpowering, so I guess this is reflected in the overall for this brew. Noticable mild bitterness that is quite good. It’s too bad I had to let this warm to almost room temperature to get something out of it....but why would one wait that long to enjoy it to the max? Mouthfeel is almost killed by excessive carbonation. Medium bodied. Fairly smooth with a nice mild bitter finish. Has a weak sour quality. The above average rating is a gift as I thought this was a mediocre brew at best while getting most of it’s points from the appearance. Moling’s is near to breaking through as a very good beer but has too many dissapointing qualities and comes across weak and uninteresting.

"Beer appears to be crystal clear brown; I did a horrid pour and ended up with five inch tall crown. The cap is slightly off white and had excellent retention that left behind some pretty nice lacing. Aroma is metallic but has a good amount of caramel, roast malt, and coffee. There is something in this aroma that I don’t like but I’m not sure what. Flavour is watery, metallic, and some cheap tasting malts. Mouth feel is very soft yuck gross. Coffee is in the finish but not enough to save this beer. Didn’t enjoy this beer at all. "

Bottle: Aroma with notes of chocolate, molasse, malt and candies. Nutbrown color. Flavor is light smoked, caramel, some acid and a roasted malt bitterness. Some hops in the end. Long, bitter finish. Well brewed, low alcohol beer.

Pours very dark red with a medium tan head. Aroma is a bit fruity with some malts, the flavor is roasted malts with some fruits and mild hops in the finish. Pretty good.

Bottle. Low white fluffy and quickly disappearing head. Clear dark red brown body. Mild roasted malt aroma. JMild roasted malt flavor with caramel. Heavy carbonation. Short aftertaste.

Pours a dark red-brown color with a very, very thin white head. Aroma is a light prune sweetness, toffee, caramel, ash and light dark roasted notes. Flavor is a thin all around of light prune, smoke and caramel. Mouth feel is extremely thin (can not emphasize this enough) with very low carbonation making it a very bland feeling beer. Overall the aroma is solid but the flavor really falters because how thin and watery the beer feels. Not a good beer by any stretch of the imagination

Bottle. Clear reddish colour with a medium white head. Sweet malty taste with fruity notes. Light hoppy finish.