Macs Sassy Red

Brewed by Macs Brewery
Style: Bitter
Wellington, New Zealand

Serve in English pint

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Poured a deep red with a nice dirty and frothy head. Nice hop aroma. Good length on the malt and finishes with an solid hop character. I liked it a lot.

Love the novelty of the pull top. Nice hops on the nose, citrusy tropical fruitiness to it, passionfruit like, APA-like indeed. Pours a clean amber body with offwhite head and lace. Body is a bit leaner than I hoped but palate has decent length with a decent amount of biscuity nutty malt and a complexity of zest citrus and tropical fruit hop character; i’m reminded of pineapples, passionfruit, lychees, grapefruit, lemon, unexpectidly fruity. Finishes reasonably dry and bitter. I quite like this one, some extra body would make it very nice indeed.

Bottle, Leopold Bottlo, WA SOme interesting if not storng pommy malt aromsa, with a good dash of biscuit and faint hops. Red and tawny tinges pour with slight offwhite head. Enjoyable, malty flavours,with subtle hops presence.

Bottled. Really cool label design and a very unique and unusual bottle. Liked it instantly. Really nice heavy maltiness about it. Really nice malty almost cheesecake flavours come through with a dry blackcurrant finish. Nice beer!

I am confused that this is described as a product of a brewpub when it is clearly a commercially available Mac’s beer. Great coppery colour and clean head with a fine whiff of hop. There is a good biscuity flavour and caramel notes which delights the palate. There are a number of flavours that come out but I must say there is something lacking that I found in the Copperhop stablemate that I have had both on tap and in the bottle. This is still good and is well priced that won’t preclude the odd purchase of a sixer.

The best of the Macs I’ve had to date and the first that I’d happily revisit. For a bitter, this has enough crystal malt and tropical fruitiness to carry it close to APA territory. But who cares. It’s flavoursome and refreshing. Unsure why they’ve called it "Red" when it’s a copper-coloured bitter with just a hint of garnet. Perhaps "red" is a green-flag word for some drinkers, whereas I’m instantly wary of a thin, sweet Irish red. Head retention was no better than fair. Fresh and inviting aroma of tropical fruits - lychee, passionfruit and a hint of bubblegum. More like an APA or golden ale under the nose than a standard bitter, but very promising. A soft, fruity flavour profile based on some nice toffee malts. Strong lychee notes, with a squeeze of tart kiwifruit and some McCowans Highland Toffee malts. Dry in the finish, with a pronounced bitterness. Moderate carbonation. Tasty. (330ml bottle from Vintage Cellars, Clovelly. BB 25/7/7)

Pours a clear red amber with a nice off-white, yellowis head. Slight sourness. Good full and fresh hops aromas. Nice dry finish. Nice bitter with a high hopsprophile... The name made me expect a fruit beer.

Looks good with a deep copper red hue and a generous though short lived beige head. Initial mixed fruit hop aroma followed by some smooth chewy malts. On tasting it is dry and fresh in the mouth, then a bit of a sweet burst during the swallow, then followed by a long dry bitter finish. Interesting the first couple of times but a bit of a jumble after. Nice depth of body and pleasant drinking made easy with a good level of carbonation. It seems like a bit of a dogs breakfast, but it is interesting and more-ish.

Pint @ Honest Lawyer - Nelso,. Rich bronze, thickish head but thins later. Malty, caramel & toffee. Big on hops, nice drop

Lovely red colour with a big beaded and lasting head. Dry aroma of Saaz hops. Taste is light and simple, more hops to this bitter than you would expect but without them this would really disappoint.