Celtic Red Ale
Bridge Road Brewers

Celtic Red AleCeltic Red Ale
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From:
Bridge Road Brewers
 
Australia
Style:
Irish Red Ale
ABV:
5.3%
Score:
78
Avg:
3.2 | pDev: 14.38%
Reviews:
13
Ratings:
19
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 06, 2017
Added:
Mar 09, 2006
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  2
Originally brewed for Beechworth’s annual Celtic festival, the Celtic Red Ale is now a Bridge Road staple.

The Celtic festival is held in November each year and aside from the music, having a few ales is a big part of it.

The Celtic Red Ale is classed as an Irish Red Ale in beer speak. It presents a wonderful deep red hue and a creamy off white head. The Red Ale has a big malty body owing to the use of caramalised malts and roast barley. The flavour is slightly roasted with smooth notes of chocolate, toffee or Jaffa, bringing back childhood memories of the occasional Jaffa that was actually consumed and not just thrown at the back of someone’s head. The malts are backed up with the use of noble hops to provide a good lick of bitterness. At 5.3% this one is sure to make you merry.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by laituegonflable:
Photo of laituegonflable
Reviewed by laituegonflable from Australia

2.15/5  rDev -32.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2
Pours with a pain-in-the-ass head. What does this beer think it's doing calling itself a commercial beer but pouring like one of our homebrews? Reddish umber colour, looks good drinking, but seriously, too much head.

Slightly sour floral hops on the nose, hints of cocoa and plain flour, doesn't promise exquisite drinking but it is quite interesting.

Very disappointing flavour, mainly because I was expecting one. Slightly sour, but malted, water on the front palate, absolutely nothing at the end. Mouthfeel is slightly drying but OK. Am left feeling empty. Could have used more malt, more hops, maybe a bucket of fried chicken for some flavour. Poor for a celtic red, poor for beer itself.
Apr 01, 2009
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.68 by Andrewharemza from Australia

Jan 06, 2017
 
Rated: 3 by DamienI from Washington

Nov 19, 2015
 
Rated: 2.92 by JKCooper from Australia

Feb 25, 2015
Photo of chogm54
Reviewed by chogm54 from Australia

3.27/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
330ml bottle

L - mahogany, clear, thin white head that fades quickly

S - strong malt base, some caramel and golden syrup, some smoked malts, with a hint of yeast and apple

T - roasted bready malt and caramel upfront. nutty bitterness and faint fruity (citrus) taste pops up briefly in the middle, before fading to a touch of dark fruits (raisins). Finish is rather bland

M - watery, thin bodied, moderate carbonation for style

O - promises more in the aroma and initial malty flavours, but fades away to a watery beer.
Feb 21, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by admiral from Australia

Dec 23, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by Gusmotel from Singapore

Nov 06, 2013
Photo of soju6
Reviewed by soju6 from Missouri

3.41/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
On tap at The Bended Elbow, Albury.

A: Served a dark red color with a decent tan head that fades to good lacing.

S: Aroma of malt sweetness, caramel, toffee and bit of grain and hops in the background.

T: taste of roasted malt, some caramel sweetness and a hint of spice. Decent bitterness with a bit of lingering malt sweetness but still a clean finish.

F: Fairly medium body, quite smooth, nice balance although it seems a bit too carbonated.

O: Nice ale that goes down quite esay. Good for a few. Worth a try.
Aug 31, 2012
 
Rated: 3.25 by Kornoms from Texas

May 23, 2012
Photo of heygeebee
Reviewed by heygeebee from Australia

2.83/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5
Not my favourite style.

Pours a deep red (!) with a one finger sudsy off-white head. Dies quickly, some lace. Wholly transparent.

Aromas of some caramel, hops.

Taste is of caramel/toffee, sweet overall with a little hop backbone. Some brown sugar. Watery tho.

Mouthfeel is too light' n' watery.

Overall, dissapointing. Least favourite Bridge Road so far.
May 20, 2012
Photo of bylerteck
Reviewed by bylerteck from Canada (ON)

3.93/5  rDev +22.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Pint at Young and Jacksons. From notes.

A - Poured a cloudy dark red colour with decent carbonation and one finger of fluffy light brown head. Great thick lace rings and a half finger of retention.

S - Lot's of caramel, bread, toffee. Something also reminded me of tobacco. A typical 'red' aroma that I can only ever describe as 'red'.

T - Smooth toffee, bread, rich maltiness, really bready, pretty tasty. No complaints. A bit of smokiness.

M - Decent carbonation, light to medium body and a clean malty finish.

O/D - Decent stuff. Pulls no punches, just an easy drinking and smooth red ale. Worth a try.
Apr 01, 2012
Photo of Stew41
Reviewed by Stew41 from Thailand

2.28/5  rDev -28.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5
Red brown in the glass with not much head to speak of. Nose is a little unique, rusty malts spring to mind! Nice enough. Fizzy palate makes it tough for the flavours to express properly. Some funky malts come through with some faint metallic notes but otherwise this beer doesn’t have enough happening to get interesting.
Aug 11, 2011
Photo of dgilks
Reviewed by dgilks from Australia

2.83/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Dull, mild malt aroma with notes of toast. A little tart and musty.

Good red-brown colour with a small, shortlasting off-white head.

Hmm, a good bit of malt in the forefront with toast, biscuit and a hint of butterscotch up front. There is an unfortunate sourness in the background which suggests poor sanitation.

Medium body with moderately high carbonation.

An easy to drink beer. The tartness actually works nicely and I like it but it is an infection and not appropriate for style.
Apr 30, 2010
Photo of CrazyDavros
Reviewed by CrazyDavros from Australia

3.28/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Pours ruby/copper with a decent white head that then proceeded to grow into a towering mound well above the rim of the glass, and left lots of lacing.
Aroma is a mix of brown sugar, resinous hops, caramel, confectionery, white wine and bread. What an eclectic mix! Quite nice though!
Many of the above aromas are mirrored in the flavours, in particular, sweet caramel, bready malt and resinous hops. Finishes with a very tame bitterness, which lets the malt dominate in an overly sweet manner.
Body feels slightly watery, and I think a bit more carbonation might have helped to create a drier finish.
Nov 03, 2009
Photo of Macca
Reviewed by Macca from Australia

3.2/5  rDev 0%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
This pours a murky dark brown colour with some hints of red. Not a lot of head to speak of.

A bit of toffee and caramel on the nose but not very strong.

A bit too sweet on the palate for me with the toffee continuing.

Medium bodied.

This didn't really do it for by itself but I'd like to try it with some food, maybe a curry.
Jun 01, 2009
Photo of lacqueredmouse
Reviewed by lacqueredmouse from Australia

3.35/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3.5
Brewed for Beechworth's annual Celtic Festival. How nice.

Pours with a massive gush of off-white foamy head, fed by streaming bands of effervescence. Crackling of bubbles is audible from two metres away. Head is plainly ridiculous. Impossible to pour.

Apart from that, looks pretty good. Clear ruby-amber colour, perhaps a bit thin in the body. But a decent enough looking Celtic Red.

Not a huge amount on the nose. Some light notes of leather and biscuit, turned earth and pepper. Not bad, but not a huge amount there.

Pretty standard earthy ale character on the palate. Roasted malts, coffee grounds and a dry note of crushed vegetation. Mouthfeel is certainly damaged by the high level of carbonation.

Very organic, dusty, earthy and raw. This is a salt-of-the-earth beer. It's quite unrefined, but in this case that's a good thing; just decent, dependable characteristics that eventuate in a drinkable, if not stellar, beer.
Jul 06, 2008
Photo of belgbeerdrinker
Reviewed by belgbeerdrinker from Colorado

3.18/5  rDev -0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
a: mahogany color, head quickly settles to a thin veil, limited carbonation around the sides
s: sweet fruit aroma with scant hints of toffee
t: sweet fruit - apple, with sour overtones that finish with toffee flavor
m: light to medium body, good amount of carbonation
d: an interesting australian interpretation, and worth a try, easy to drink with some interesting flavor
Oct 13, 2007
Photo of jarmby1711
Reviewed by jarmby1711 from Australia

3.62/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
By definition this approximated an Irish Red Ale in aroma and taste .
It lacks much in the way of red colour however being a lot darker than others of this style I have tried.
It is toffee like but dry enough to be very drinkable.
It has a lovely fresh almost sparkly mouthfeel that sits will as a seasonal festival beer.
There were some roasted grains at the finish which also balamced and moderated the toffee malts .
Sep 30, 2007
Photo of brendan13
Reviewed by brendan13 from Australia

3.18/5  rDev -0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A - Dark mahogany with ruby red highlights when held up to light. A few centimetres of off white head.
S - Sweet toffee is there just like the bottle says but there is also a strong green apple aroma coming through.
T - Pretty much the same as the smell but with more cloying sweetness.
M - Pretty full mouthfeel with low carbonation.
D - OK but only just. I'd like to try this years batch fresh. I hope it's better than this as I think these guys are doing a great job for a fairly young brewery & wouldn't want this to reflect on them too much. Good on them for giving a style rarely seen in Australia a shot.
Jul 26, 2007
Celtic Red Ale from Bridge Road Brewers
Beer rating: 78 out of 100 with 19 ratings