The Triumphant Return of Beer Blogging
As it does every month or so, beer blogging is making its triumphant return with Mendocino Brewing Company's Red Tail Ale.
It's a red ale, obviously, and the first thing you notice after pouring it is the color - a nice deep red. There's a huge head, but the beer doesn't lose all its carbonation, and still has a good mouthfeel as you drink it. There's a nice balance between the malt sweetness and the hoppy bitterness; the fruity taste of the malt hits you first. Usually, if a beer has some sweetness to it you can taste a specific fruit flavor, but I don't get that from this beer. All I can say is that there is some malt involved. The hops come next, with a good amount of bitterness - enough to give an aftertaste, but not enough to drown out the sweetness completely.
Overall, this is a refreshing beer with a little bit of flavor to it. It's more interesting than a lager, but not nearly as complex as a typical red ale. In other words, it's great for an evening when it's 80 and muggy in Southern California, especially if you're like me and don't normally enjoy beers that don't have a lot of flavor. Rating: 6/10
Extra special bonus beer: Echigo, made by a microbrewery in Japan.
Ever had an Asahi? How about a Sapporo? Maybe Kirin? Then you've had an Echigo. Much like beers from El Salvador, all Japanese beers taste the same. It's kind of a watery, light-bodied lager. Not bad, but nothing exciting. I mostly bought it because the label was all in Japanese and looked kind of cool. I wouldn't buy it again, because Asahi is the same thing and costs a heck of a lot less. Rating: 4/10.
Tags: beer, Red Tail Ale, Echigo Beer
It's a red ale, obviously, and the first thing you notice after pouring it is the color - a nice deep red. There's a huge head, but the beer doesn't lose all its carbonation, and still has a good mouthfeel as you drink it. There's a nice balance between the malt sweetness and the hoppy bitterness; the fruity taste of the malt hits you first. Usually, if a beer has some sweetness to it you can taste a specific fruit flavor, but I don't get that from this beer. All I can say is that there is some malt involved. The hops come next, with a good amount of bitterness - enough to give an aftertaste, but not enough to drown out the sweetness completely.
Overall, this is a refreshing beer with a little bit of flavor to it. It's more interesting than a lager, but not nearly as complex as a typical red ale. In other words, it's great for an evening when it's 80 and muggy in Southern California, especially if you're like me and don't normally enjoy beers that don't have a lot of flavor. Rating: 6/10
Extra special bonus beer: Echigo, made by a microbrewery in Japan.
Ever had an Asahi? How about a Sapporo? Maybe Kirin? Then you've had an Echigo. Much like beers from El Salvador, all Japanese beers taste the same. It's kind of a watery, light-bodied lager. Not bad, but nothing exciting. I mostly bought it because the label was all in Japanese and looked kind of cool. I wouldn't buy it again, because Asahi is the same thing and costs a heck of a lot less. Rating: 4/10.
Tags: beer, Red Tail Ale, Echigo Beer
posted by The Disgruntled Chemist at
7:10 PM
