Free State The Vortex Red

Brewed by Free State Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Lawrence, Kansas USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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On tap at Free State. Pours a mostly clear, deep amber-reddish body with a creamy, finger-width, tan head that dissipates quickly and leaves a good amount of lacing. Aroma is not what I was expecting based off the description. I was anticipating an extremely hoppy, resiny beer, but this is much more subdued than that. A moderately sweet toffee and caramel with a nice toasty quality greets the nose. A light citrusy, earthy and piney hop blends with the malts nicely making this aroma lighter and somewhat muted, but nicely balanced between the toasty malts and piney hops. Flavor is much more pronounced than the aroma, but not over-the-top in the least bit. The tongue is greeted with some resiny pines making the hops the forefront of the flavor. A nice toasty caramel quickly balances the initial bitterness and gives off a light roasted malt flavor that I didn’t really pick up in the aroma. Finishes with a good amount of citrus, pines, and earth before drying with a moderate bitterness and a light roasty flavor. Medium bodied and smooth. Overall, a pretty cool red ale. I think the nose could have been a little more pronounced, although it was nice. Despite that, the flavor kept my interest being nicely hopped and lightly roasted. Another solid beer from Free State.

From growler. Toasty, sweet, hoppy aroma, plenty of caramel and pine, along with lighter notes of citrus, spice, earth, faint butterscotch and red apple skin. Clear garnet in color with a very fine, lasting, off-white head. Flavor is sweet, sugary and malty up front, some toasty caramel and bready malts, becoming more hoppy and bitter, with more citrus, pine and a faint background fruitiness, these characters blending towards the finish to create a nicely balanced profile, along with some lingering grapefruit, peppery spice, toffee and pine. Very lightly oily and smooth palate, body is medium. Quite tasty and drinkable.