Red Oak Big Oak

Brewed by Red Oak Brewery
Style: Vienna
Whitsett, North Carolina USA

Serve in Lager glass

Easily the best beer to come out of Red Oak, Big Oak pours a hazy golden with a slight wite head. The nutty aroma shows a bit of pear, and general fruitiness. Malt forward for sure, but only slightly sweet. Nice grassy hop character; balanced. Slick mouthfeel.

Pours cloudy amber with medium cream head. Hay and malt aroma. Stong malt flavor, low biiterness. Lingering but refreshing finish. I really like this one for when i want a high malt low hop beer.

Draught at City Tap in Pittsboro. As OldStyleCubsFan mentioned, it was also advertised as 7% when I had it. That plus the fact that I haven’t been a big Red Oak fan turned me off, but I tried it anyway and was actually pretty impressed. Malty and rich. Some sweet grainy notes and caramel. Really pretty good. I might even drink this again.

Not bad. I’m not a fan of RO besides the cool brewery along the Interstate but I’m game to try it. First question to the bartender...what type of beer is it...she had no clue but bragged it was 7%. The beer looked nice but it was void of taste. Weird really Almost no bitterness. Very smooth. its well attenuated unlike other RO beers I’ve had. I figured a high ABV Vienna would be a malty mess but its not. Its dried out nice with no real alcohol heat. I just dont see the point of an imperial vienna or whatever this is. It will get you drunk.

Old rating on a crumpled piece of newspaper--somewhere around 2005. I tried to enter this beer as a "Vienna" which is what the rep from the distributor said it was, and I was rejected. Oh well... Draught at the Flying Saucer in downtown Raleigh. Amber-brown body, clear, with a small white head. Aroma is grainy, bready, and somewhat sour. Little caramel, some better malt balance that the "red oak," but still a bit thin at end. Hops are there, but not noticeable. Eh, still not that great, but a big improvement.

Per notes 3/29/05: Pours a ever-so-slightly cloudy amber brown with more emphasis on the amber. A shy cream head disappears to a thin ring of foam. Halfway though the pint the ring is no more and a completely headless beer is before you. Aromas need a little nudging to come out to greet you. Toasted malt, some biscuit, the smallest hint of caramel. As it warms, a fruity yeast tone rises. Malty backbone washes the palate. Biscuity and modestly full. A more pronounced toasted grain feel kicks in post-swallow. A nut character rears its head as it warms. Not quite the "big" beer that Big Oak refers to, but it definitely has more oomph than the Red Oak Amber. And guess what, no sourness! There shall be dancing in the streets! Smooth creamy feel; glides down the throat. Just a token hoppiness to this to provide some semblance of balance, otherwise this is malt-driven. And no sour notes at all. ’bout time!

A decent beer from Red Oak! Yay! This is the souped up version of the normal Red Oak that they make. I think it is around 7% or 8%. Same Coppery sheen. Very reflective and clear as a bell. No head. Nothing. watery surface. nose is very fruity for a lager. Apricots everywhere. Nothing but fruitiness. However clean and not too estery, infact the sweetness from the malt is truly complex and subtle and not just a saccharine wallop. Hops aren’t present. Flavors take in the full orbedness of the fruit adding a little tinge of mintyness. No corny adjunct flavors like with the regualr Red Oak. most impressive, I thought, was the lack of presence in the alcohol. Very smooth. Deceptively good beer.