Coronado Red Devil

Brewed by Coronado Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Coronado, California USA

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

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Sampled April 2009
A vigorous pour produces a large, four-finger thick, darkish tan colored head with amber notes. The beer is a dark amber color that shows a brilliantly clear, dark cherry color when held up to the light. The aroma is quite noticeably hoppy with a citrus-sap character to it, lots of lychee aromatics, candied citrus notes, solid grapefruit peel aromatics as well as a strong malt character that consists of caramelized toasted malt, a touch of sweet tea, biscuit notes, crushed whole grain crackers and a touch of a metallic note in the finish. The hop character also contributes a pine-sap edge to the nose that mixes in quite well with the fruitier hop notes. As I adjust to the aroma I start to actually get a touch of roasted character in the nose.

The beer is thick and chewy feeling as it rests on my tongue and it has lots of caramelized notes that make this beer taste sweet. It is not cloying though as it is balanced well by herbal and pine flavors as well as a touch of burnt grain flavors towards the finish (this last is a bit more prominent than it was in the nose). This beer is not aggressively bitter, but does have a bite to it at times. It can also have a green hop, herbal astringency to it at times in the finish. The texture of this beer is easily approaching Barleywine territory; viscous, chewy and with a full mouthfeel, but it doesn’t really get syrupy, which is good. There seems to be a touch of butterscotch to the flavor too, though this is pretty subtle.

This is a nice beer, the heavy crystal malt character is spot on for the style, but doesn’t really do all that much for me. I would have doubled the base malt and hops, but left the character / specialty grain bill the same level as in the regular version of this amber beer. Still this is pretty tasty and enjoyable and was certainly worth a try.

On tap at Stone Brewery. Pour is a murky brown red color. Very little lacing and head to note. Aromas are porter driven with roasted malt, smoked wood, cocoa. Taste is diff then smell. Way more hoppy with a nice fruit character. Smokey on tongue in the finish,

Bottle from City Beer. Pours reddish brown with a huge beige head and a fruit and toffee aroma. There is a hearty toffee flavor that is milder than the abv suggests and a tasty dry lingering finish.

Bottle. Poured a clear ruddy dark orange color. The head was a few fingers high with decent retention. Caramel, orange liqueur, and subdued tobacco/black tea notes. Medium bodied and slightly sweet with mild bitterness. Well balanced malt and hop flavors that included the likes of honey, caramel, and citrus candy. The 10.7% ABV was well masked. Good stuff.

Bottle. Pours a reddish amber color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity malty spicy hoppy grapefruit aroma. Sweetish malty hoppy bitter grapefruit and piney flavor. Has a fruity malty hoppy bitter grapefruit finish.

Tastes like a tootsie roll with a spicy rye component, and strong mid-palate bitterness.

SAVOR 2011. Served in a SAVOR goblet. Pours a clear amber color with a small white head and some good lacing on the way down. Thin collar as it settles. The nose carries some fairly heavy caramel with some light citrus hops behind that. Some bready malt as well. Earthy hops come in to play as well. The flavor is bready with a fairly-strong malt presence. Earthy and citrus hops bring a bit of flavor. Good body with a nice level of bitterness. Pretty solid beer, though straddles the malt/hop line a little too closely. Serving type: on-tap Reviewed on: 06-09-2011

Gift from SJ Reddish pour with a brown hue. Grass and hop are the first smell you detect, then, a grapey fruity caramel aroma lingers behind. The taste is a malty boldness with hints of caramel and bitter fruit. Good.

22 ounce bottle bought a year ago at Holiday Wine Cellar ($6.79). Pours such a dark red as to really be brown, but with only a half finger of gray-beige foam. Aroma is on the weaker side but includes some citrusy hops and chocolate-caramel malts. Flavor has a really good balance with syrupy resinous hoppiness and smooth sweet caramel maltiness. Some actual dark roasted malts (even chocolaty) emerge late in the taste. Creamy mouthfeel with some lingering hoppiness. The quite high ABV is well hidden. Nothing especially complex here, but the excellent balance makes this a great beer. (158, 532)

Beautiful ruby red color. Smells of malty sweetness. Mouthfeel is velvety smooth. Good carbonation. Tastes of caramel and red velvet cake. Delicious! Well-balanced, great finish. Alcohol is definitely present, but not over-powering. Awesome Imperial Red!

02-Mar-09 (22-oz bottle: Sample bottle from the Coronado Sales Rep)
Clear, ruddy amber in color with a creamy, light-tan head that holds at a quarter inch in height for the duration of the session. Very malty and medium-sweet with plenty of caramel and toast, but beautifully balanced with fairly piney, tea-like, lightly floral and medium-bitter hops. Rich, chewy and full-bodied on the palate with ample carbonation. Tea-like, almost weedy hops dominate the nose, but the sweet, caramely malts aren’t lost. Overall, a wonderfully rich and flavorful beer, one of my favorites from this brewery.