Southern Tier Big Red

4-6-08 bottle shared at tasting
Clear orange red with good head. Smell is sweet and honey mixed with some light hops. Flavor is honey, caramel and sweet hops. Mouthfeel is nice - smooth and enjoyable. Drinkable but I would just like some more flavor overall.

LCBO lists this at 8%. Good malt nose with lots of citrus notes, light copper, pours a small tan head. Flavour has caramel, malt and full on orange. Medium bodied, balanced, sweet, with a pleasing bitterness. Top shelf!

22 ounce bottle. Pours dark copper with a eggshell white head. Good lace. The nose is toasted biscuit malt with some caramel notes and hop spice. Rich toasted flavor. There’s an underlying herbal spice hop character. Medium body with prickly carbonation. Dry finish. I think you could slip this under Irish Red and most folks would not be able to tell.

Appearance: Pours a clear, amber body with a small white head. Smell: Full scent of spicy, floral hops and underneath are some toasty, caramelly malts. Taste: Toasted grains with some caramel sweetness and even a tiny hint of dry chocolate starts things off. A tiny handful of discarded peanut shells. Flavorful floral, spicy hop character but only around a medium-high level of bitterness. Finishes dry and lightly woodsy with a bit of mintiness in the aftertaste. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: I liked it! Tasty and reasonably well balanced with the alcohol so well integrated that you almost begin to think the 9.5% abv is a dubious claim.

bomber. Pous a crisp, clear straw color with an adequete white head. Hops are present in the nose, along with some grass and pine. The appearance was a bit dissapointing after having drank an arrogant bastard the night before. The flavor was pleasantly hoppy, with a small malt character. A bit too one dimensional for me. It finishes bitter with a little warmth. I have been spoiled by bigger, bolder brews in this category, especially by the aforementioned bastard. Overall, it was okay, although it was very drinkable and quite refreshing.

*did not like would not buy* aroma: nice hop smells. some malt back drop. not much different in here than the smell of an imperial ipa. app: nice brown copper.. lacks magic. flavor: mealy, sweet. hops galore. the malts are dry and bland. they are there just not great. the hops are big and out of control, not balanced. palate: to sharp and zingy. OA: its good.. i suppose, its just not balanced enough, its lacking in the malt depot.

Bottle. Pours a golden amber with a nice white head with good glass retention. The aroma is sweet and doughy with a hint of cotton candy. Taste is a little sour but not overwhelmingly so as some reds can be. It was also sweet and sugary like rock candy. Bubbly and full bodied.

Thanks to hoplover406 for this. Shared with Ian. Beautiful reddish brown pour with a thick tan head. Big hop citrus aroma, very earthy. Taste is big malt backbone and balanced nicely by the hops. Creamy smooth finish with just a hint of hop bitterness.