J.R. Brickman Honey Red

Bottle- Pours a deep amber coloured body with a good sized lasting froth. Aromas are all malt and brown sugar with some honey and bread. Sweet malty with some actual honey flavours and the slightest bittering hops. Finish is sweet and tasty. All in all this is enjoyable. A good summer beer. Another winner in the founder’s series.

Bought a six pack for Father’s Day, had most for myself. Looks and smells pretty good, nice head and quite robust I must say. Had a more caramel/toffee than honey taste but a nice smooth finish nonetheless.

The name intrigued me - honey AND red? Can they do that? Well, they did. Aside from the interesting colour, this beer has all the classic Brick characteristics - vanishing head, high carbonation, tastes like sweat. Normally, these are enough to turn me off the brand, but the honey taste actually puts all of these elements into balance and sort of causes them to make sense. Maybe that sweat taste is from craft brewing? Maybe the head disappeared so fast because the honey dampened it? Either way, this is still the best offering from a long line of Brick beers that ultimately taste pretty much the same. Take the pilsener, add food colouring and some actualy honey, and you get this. In fact, I think that’s all they did. And it somehow works!

Decent. Toffee, some floral and definite honey. Tastes a lot like Connor’s Best Bitter.

Bottle - sampled at an Ontario Craft Brewers event. Second of the three beers in Brick’s new "Founder’s Series" line. I must admit that including a honey beer in a premium, "craft" beer line seemed odd to me, but after enjoying the Amber, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Reddish-gold colour colour with a small head. Aroma of fresh malt, a bit of hay and grass, and a hint of honey - not bad. Flavour is fresh and sweet without being cloying, with caramel malt and honey notes balanced by a moderately hopped finish. Really well done - I’m looking forward to trying the Pilsner now!

Soon to be released "founder’s series" (suggesting more beers to come) this is one of three newly released "craft" beers by Brick ( Ontario’s first craft brewer) Labelled as "J.R. Brickman" ( the Brick founder/chairman) this beer advertises "CQA Craft Brewed" as if this is a guarantee......................and from the lots I’ve tasted it is.....I was surprised to find a flavorful, all malt medium bodied beer!..................... Poured a orange-amber in the glass with a lovely puffy off white cap that lasted well and laced the glass decently................. Aroma was pungent: some grass and a distinct honey-toffee smells under the substancial bready smells of big malt protiens,...................................... Medium bodied, with a fair malt spine....sticky mouth feel..................... Taste profile: Thick caramel malts up front are balanced by some light herbal hops but the honey is detectable and biases the balance towards sweet...although not cloying....finish is wet lightly sweet with a tang of honey and modest bittering from the German hops. An other wise nice aftertaste like a fresh biscuit with a dab of honey. ..................... Summary: This has the potential to be one of the best session beers from Brick in some years....if not "craft" quality, at least an all malt super premium lager.......update: Tried on tap today ( unpasturized) it is far better and there is a real malty finish. This is now a standard quaff for me. Consumed fresh from the tap there are few equals in taste and drinkability.