3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
Bottle. Pours red with medium off white head. Much lacing. Piney hop aroma, almost like an IPA. Full bodied, hop flavour, but again balanced with caramel. Hop finish
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Bottle: Dark caramel, very brownish, moderate tannish head, nice lacing. Sweet hoppy nose, some caramel and toffee, along with some citrus zest. Caramel like malts up front, right up front, followed by a smooth ohp bite. Bitterness doesn’t linger long. Body and mouthfeel are moderate. Touch of honeycomb on the finish. Lingering soft resiny citrus peel stuff, hops, and some muted caramel. Maybe even a bit of Bit o Honey or Honeycomb cereal making a slight appearance. Pretty smooth, and pretty good. Not as malty and sweet as others, but its well balanced in that its not over the top hop. Good stuff!
4.1 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 10/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
This beer made me join this site. I’m 42 years old, a home brewer years back, and a steady beer lover since I tasted my first Red Hook (my first non-American-style pilsner) years ago.
I apologize that I can’t utilize the connoisseur’s vocabulary but I’ll give it my best shot. What was most remarkable to me about this beer was how smooth and creamy it was, not at all like a typical 8% barley wine. It was smokey but more subtly so than the Rogue ales (that I adore).
Typically, brewers over-hop their ales and call them "Imperial IPAs" in order to mask the high alcohol content. This beer does just the opposite in that it has clearly made the effort to delicately interweave sweet, bitter, and alcohol into a magnificently smooth, yet rich and jarring, ale. Enjoy two 22 oz. bottles in a freezer chilled, high-volume beer stein slowly over the course of an evening and you will feel remarkably satisfied. Both thumbs up from me on this one.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
On tap at the brewery over a month ago. Pours honey red with beige head and plenty of clings. Smells of roasted malts and floral. Floral and citrus to start, then chocolate before a nice alcohol burn. Creamy palate.
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Piny hops, caramel, vinegar, smoke are what I smell. modest khaki head on lightly hazy (unfiltered) amber red. oily and a little flat, from bottle. IPA strength bitterness which the caramel & brown sugar malt manage to stay heard. bitter finish not too clingy.
2.9 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 8/20
Hop Valley Brewing – Springfield, OR
Reddish Amber in color, thin head and clear. Roasty malt build with faint nutty flavors from the malt. Hops where present with a floral and earthy flavor and aroma.
3.4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20
On tap at the brewery in Springfield. Poured out a dark red color. Just the right amount of carbonation with a great amount of malt flavor. One of the better ones of the night.
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 13/20
UPDATED: OCT 14, 2011 Enjoyed this again in October of 2011. A very good amber with a lot of hops for an amber.
On tap, pours an amber color, reddish, with a nice malt scent. Flavor is pretty good and a nice amber ale.
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