Mendocino Red Tail Ale

Brewed by Mendocino Brewing Company (United Breweries Group)
Style: Amber Ale
Hopland, California USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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This beer is horrible. I took one sip and had to pour it out. Tried another a few days later, same result. Very sour, undrinkable. I have the other 4 bottles and am going to throw them out. Can an entire 6-pack be skunky?

A great amber ale. A decent sized, foamy head. A tad too much bitterness in the aftertaste, detracting from the overall score. Crisp and dry, yet not overdone.

For an amber ale its not too bad, but still its an amber ale. It has a very nice aroma and a good look, but the flavor is nothing special. A little bitterness and a little hoppieness, but nothing great.

A nice drinkable amber ale, nice and hoppy. a nice drinking beer

I keep coming back to this one. It’s got the hops, but it’s also smooth and well-rounded.

Hazy copper color with small head. Nice drinkable ale with a medium hop prfile. medium body. Light caramel malt presence - a very good session beer with better than average hops (citric).

I first tried this in the very early 1980’s, when I was 19 and cruising around California in an old Cadillac. I stumbled upon the Mendocino Brewing Co. by accident, it was in the middle of nowhere. It had been open for less than a year. We were looking for a place to eat and I saw the sign that said they make their own beer. Well this sure was a novelty at the time, and needless to say I freaked and pulled over. It was right about twilight and I still have the grainy photos of us eating and drinking there. At the time, I think Red Tail Ale and maybe one other was the extent of the brewery’s products. It was a special moment, one that I never forgot, and needless to say this beer holds a special place in my heart. I am tasting one today, probably the first that I have had since those young innocent days. And it is not bad, very hoppy in that California, Sierra Nevada way. It sort of tastes like the beer I make with my Mr. Beer though. Certainly better than average, but a standard representative of the American ’hey I can make my own beer’ style which is getting a little played out.

Nice amber ale, well balanced hops/malt taste. Smooth finish and a beautiful color. A great Beer.

Not a real bad beer. I found it to be a little bitter. It reminds me a little of sierra nevada pale ale

Nice, clean and somewhat rosey smell. Color was typical amber, but the taste was more full-bodied that most. There was something in the taste that I couldn’t exactly put my finger on but nothing bad. Overall, a well-balanced amber ale with slight fruitiness and a somewhat hoppy and dry finish.