Roots Organic Island Red

This red ale poured very slowly since the foam overwhelmed the liquid. Once I managed to reach the beer, I found it to be pretty tasty.and complex. It doesn’t taste at all like a stout. Thre is a carbonated and creamy caramel malt base with a slightly bitter finish.

28-Aug-08 (22-oz bottle: Purchased 27-Aug-08 for $4.99 at the Pizza Port Bottle Shop in Carlsbad, CA) A new bottle from a new retail shop, but the result is the same: a foaming mess. The beer foams out of the bottle, and it foams right out of the glass too. There’s so much carbonation that when I scooped the foam out, it reforms and oozes out of the glass again. Good think I had a pile of junk mail nearby to keep the volcanic action from making a real mess as I twice had to run for the kitchen sink. The red-amber body is cloudy, in large part from the sea of carbonation bubbles. Fortunately, the beer tastes and smells better than the previous bottle. Hops are resiny and bitter, with loads of pine and grapefruit rind, but unlike before, there is sufficient malt presence and richness to balance the beer so the hops don’t seem nearly as aggressive. Perhaps the previous bottle was indeed showing signs of infection, and the bugs had eaten away at the malty richness. Malts are caramely and moderately sweet. There’s a touch of plastic phenolics in the flavor, but it’s mostly noticeable only in the ensuing eructations, which are unavoidable given the ridiculous carbonation level. The nose is malty, caramely, and mildly sweet-smelling, but surprisingly only mildly hoppy. The beer is medium in body, highly carbonated obviously, but still quite smooth and perhaps even a little velvety on the palate. The palate remains refreshed from the carbonation and the crisp, hoppy bitterness. Once the foaming and carbonation subside, the beer maintains a half-inch layer of head, light-tan in color, with plenty of dense, ringed lacing on the glass. Overall, while the uncontrollable foaming was a significant aggravation, the actual beer has been much more enjoyable this time around. But only because the beer was fresh. I suspect that if I held onto this bottle a few months, I might have seen similar issues as the last time.

24-Aug-08 (22-oz bottle: Purchased 12-May-08 for $5.19 at Hollingshead Deli in Orange, CA) It’s difficult making heads or tails of this beer. Opening the bottle, a loud and long release of carbonation causes concern, but the beer did not foam out of the bottle. However, even a very careful pour results in a glass nearly full of foam. After scooping out most of the foam and pouring more beer into the glass, then waiting for the newly added foam to die down a little, there is finally enough actual liquid in the glass to proceed. The smell is fairly harsh and not the least bit inviting. The faint, background aroma of caramely malts is easily conquered by the strongly phenolic aroma of plastic and a green, weedy hop scent. In the entry, vague fruitiness and lightly sweet, caramely malts make a brief appearance on the tongue, but almost at once, acrid hop water this becomes, with a fair amount of plastic, soap and metal in the flavor as well, most notably in the finish and the clinging aftertaste. The palate-scorching hops are harsh, astringent and aggressively bitter, piney and deeply resiny, showing some grapefruit rind bitterness without the citrus flavor. Medium in body, so there’s definitely a malty presence, but it lacks any richness. Very dry mouthfeel, highly carbonated, teeth scraping and astringent bitterness, all are unpleasant on the palate. Hazy, deep-amber in color with large carbonation bubbles racing swiftly upward in streams, and when all is said and done, the off-white foam finally settles down to a rocky and large-bubbled layer, leaving ugly globs of foam on the glass. Overall, determining whether the massive carbonation and strong phenolics were a result of contamination required a bit of internal debate at first, but this seems mostly to be the work of the hop profile. Grossly and recklessly overhopped, and the choice of hops is one-dimensional -- an unappealing dimension at that. As a whole, the beer is terribly out of balance on the palate, almost undrinkable to me and certainly not enjoyable. However, if I see this beer on tap at any time, I’ll give it another shot, but I’ll be sure to only ask for a taster first. (4, 3, 3, 2, 6 = 1.8)

22oz bottle. Pours hazy, deep red/brown. Thin white head, good lace. Smells fruity and cereal malty or maybe that’s earthy hops. Red fruit hoppy with a cereal malt backbone. Much better than I was expecting. Medium body, good carbonation.

Bomber poured a clear reddish amber with a lasting amber head. Aromas of carmel, toffee, orange and earthiness. Palate was medium bodied and smooth. Flavors of carmel, light toffee, fruittiness and light earthiness with a smooth lightly dry malty finish.

Appearance: Pours a hazy, reddish-brown body with a wispy, white head. Smell: Scorched dry grains with a vague hint of caramel and dehydrated grasses. Taste: Slight caramel malts hints and a taste of roasted grain husks. Minor fruitiness. Medium-high earthy bitterness. Some grassiness. A continued biting bitterness on the finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-thin body. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: The reviewer below me, bhensonb, summed it up nicely and politely - "Chacon à son goût" indeed!