Sinuous - North Peak Brewing Company

Frosty80

Michigan

4.63/5  rDev +27.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Color: pours clear deep gold with a light brown hue. sits crystal clear deep reddish copper

Smell: clean pils and caramel malt aromas including a rich buttery character. some bready, melanoidin and toffee notes as well

Taste: very well translated from aromas. rich, clean pils and caramel malts followed by a buttery character and light toffee and bready notes. finish is fairly dry with a hint of roasted grains and low perceived bitterness

Mouthfeel: creamy, low-medium body with medium carbonation

Notes: a full flavored beer that is great to enjoy by itself and perfect with most foods

Serving type: bottle

03-13-2011 03:41:23 | More by Frosty80

tophers

Michigan

4.48/5  rDev +23.1%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

a: Amber red in color with a creamy tan head. Very clear. Head retention is very long with it remaining quite awhile.

s: Moderate malt aroma with some caramel notes. There is a distinctive smell to it which almost smells like a margarita - with the mixture of lime, tequila, and salt. While this distinctive note is not unpleasant at all, it's the first time I have smelled something like that in a beer. No hop aroma. Quite a clean and refreshing aroma.

t: Moderate malt aroma with some caramel notes. There is a distinctive smell to it which almost smells like a margarita - with the mixture of lime, tequila, and salt. While this distinctive note is not unpleasant at all, it's the first time I have smelled something like that in a beer. No hop aroma. Quite a clean and refreshing aroma.

m: Light body with a moderate level of carbonation. No alcohol warmth. Smooth.

o: The minty flavors add a nice touch to this beer without being to dominate to wash out the other flavors. I thought everything blended quite well. There was some harshness in the after finish after getting further thru this beer. A very interesting beer, however it's not one I would drink a lot of.

Serving type: bottle

04-14-2012 00:28:44 | More by tophers

superspak

Michigan

4.23/5  rDev +16.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, bottled 2/6/2012. Pours fairly crystal clear reddish copper color with a 1 finger dense off white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. some minimal spotty lacing clings to the glass. Aromas of caramel, molasses, raisin, prune, cherry, apple, toast, biscuit, toffee, and herbal. Very nice aromas with good strength and balance. A very pleasantly enjoyable malty aroma. Taste of caramel, molasses, toast, biscuit, cherry, raisin, apple, red grape, toffee, earth, and herbal. Minimal bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, molasses, dark fruit, toast, biscuit, earth, and light herbal spiciness on the finish for a bit. Great balance of malty flavors with good complexity; and no cloying sweetness at all. Medium carbonation and body; with a very nice creamy and slightly slick mouthfeel. Alcohol is well hidden with pretty much zero warming on the finish noticed. Overall this is a very excellent Irish red ale! Great balance of fruity flavors with toasted caramel maltiness; and extremely smooth and easy to drink. The best North Peak beer I have had to date.

Serving type: bottle

07-26-2012 04:22:42 | More by superspak

dorianmarley

Ohio

4.2/5  rDev +15.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance is dark red-brown with some head that fades quickly and some lacing.

Nose is bright with tart cherry, some sweet malt, and mild hops.

Taste is tart cherry, crisp apple, molasses, and buttery oak. The malts are dark; almost syrupy. It has a light biscuit finish.

Mouthfeel has great carbonation and nice drinkability with some oil-slickness.

Overall, this is a great way to celebrate St. Patty's Day.

Serving type: bottle

03-13-2012 02:17:37 | More by dorianmarley

GRPunk

Michigan

4.08/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Stubby bottle (dated MAR0111) poured into a Siciliano's mug. Most full bottle I've ever seen (probably close to touching the cap).

A- 1-finger, tan head drops to a light film a little too quickly (though none of my mugs ever favor head retention). Clean, copper body sports moderate carbonation. Decent stick left on the glass.

S- In a word, "robust" for the style. Pleasantly sweet malts create a solid caramel aroma. A hint of Ritz crackers. A little roasty tone. Some cereal notes with warmth. I like it.

T- Good stuff. Lots of caramel and roasted tones right off the bat. More of the buttery crackers. Good dose of flavor without becoming overwhelming. While malt-centric, it's no malt bomb.

M- Light carbonation. Clean, but solid feel.

O- It's an easy drinker and solid interpretation of the style in a category where it's tough to stand out. It doesn't try to fool around with anything funny. I'd put it toward the top and buy it again when I really want an Irish Red Ale.

Serving type: bottle

03-20-2011 18:07:24 | More by GRPunk

SupaCelt

Michigan

4/5  rDev +9.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pour of a 03/01/11 bottle. This bottle was brimming with ale. Strange. Not complaining. The pour was a beautifully clear crimson with a few fingers of tan head that fell quickly. Loads of lacing. Light carbonation.

The nose is bready and biscuity with a slight sourness.

The taste is mild and bready as well. A slight crispness. Slight bitterness. Straightforward.

Mouthfeel is not quite light.

Overall this beer is fairly true to style. This is a basic ale that may appeal to crossovers who are not into big hop profiles or rich and dark styles but want something a bit more substantial than golden varieties or typical lager fare. Very clean.

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2011 05:26:29 | More by SupaCelt

djeucalyptus

Oregon

4/5  rDev +9.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

as others noted, this baby was filled literally to the crown. crazy. pours a brilliant shimmering caramel apple amber with a fairly tepid bubbly head of an off-white that fades and leaves behind some decent lacing.

aroma is sweet and bready. hints of fruitiness. more brioche and a hint of sourdough. clean. caramely. Not quite as strong or prevalent as I'd like, but it's still invitingly pleasant.

taste follows appropriately, with an earthy, malty and bready backbone accentuated by a caramel sweetness and a bit of fresh fruit without being tart. pleasant and definitely well-balanced.

mouthfeel is perfect for the style - just under medium bodied with ample, relatively fine carbonation.

All in all, this is another North Peak offering that I'm definitely stoked on. I love a good Irish Ale, and finding one is few and far between. This one is definitely a solid example worth seeking out.

Serving type: bottle

05-02-2011 05:13:07 | More by djeucalyptus

scruffwhor

Illinois

3.58/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Thank you sooo much n8dietz, you wondering beer geek you, for this beer hook-up.

Good two finger head after the pour that recedes to just a film o' foam after three sips. Good bubbling and a little bit o' lacing.

I love toasted malt aromas. Carckers, biscuits and caramel. Maybe a little earthy grass from the hops. But overall a simple session aroma so far.

Toasted crackers and biscuits mak up the overall malt bill of this beer's flavor. Slight earthy hop bitterness. But the malts seems to add a weird funky skunk flavor to the whole flavor operation. Complex, but still a little odd flavor combo.

The palate is a little oily overall. But the malts add a weird bitter skuniness here and there that sort of bothers me.

Serving type: bottle

07-25-2011 00:34:54 | More by scruffwhor

nrbw23

Ohio

3.58/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A- Pours a crystal clear copper color with a fairly thin tan colored head. Head is gone pretty quick and leaves very light lacing.

S- Quite a bit of sweet malts, bready, cracker and a touch of roast.

T- Caramel malts, light sweetness, peat, crackers and a touch of smoke.

M- Lighter side of medium in body and fairly low in carbonation too.

O- Pretty much what I expected fairly easy to drink too.

Serving type: bottle

03-17-2012 17:41:17 | More by nrbw23

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

3.55/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle into a pint glass.

Pours a clear copper, with a couple fingers of off-white head. This retains with a smooth foaminess that skims the surface and leaves back some spotty swathes of lace. The aroma smells of caramel, butter, a light toastiness and some rather prominent overripe citrus character that has a bit of a tart off-feel to it. A gentle leafy spiciness hangs on the edges.

The taste has a ripe twangy mix to it of caramel, citrus and toasted bread, with a leafy feeling bitterness that hangs with those citric hop flavors. That same light fruity tartness from the nose is here as well, coming out across the back of the profile and sticking to the tangier aspects of this. This finishes moderately dry with a light lingering bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a solid crispness to the carbonation and then more of a creamy and slick feel that rides along underneath. This is pretty easy feeling overall.

This was OK for an Irish Red. That fruity tart flavor here threw me off a bit but it didn’t seem like it was an infection, appearing to maybe be a byproduct of those citric hops instead and didn’t seem to distract too much by the end of the glass. The easy body on this probably helps out the most though and keeps this pretty drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

04-30-2012 14:25:31 | More by Kegatron

hosehead83

Ohio

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from stubby "retro" bottle into a standard pint glass.
Deep copper/amber in color, with a moderate head of foam.
Aroma-Faint toasted malt
Taste-Sweet toasted malt,caramel, faint cinnamon note. Dry, rather bland finish. I was expecting more out of this beer as so many of the new North Peak offering are very good. This one seemed a little half-hearted and pretty average.

Serving type: bottle

03-04-2012 17:51:19 | More by hosehead83

EricCioe

Montana

3.25/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This pours blood red with a thin eggshell head that dies down to nothing. On the nose there is roasted caramel and toffee, with some saltiness underneath. There are medium fruits in here, too, berries I guess. In the mouth the toffee really coats the whole palate and a nice, somewhat buzzy carbonation that lingers well. The finish is medium and pleasant, hot toffee and berries carried down together.

Overall, this is a decent red ale, but probably the weakest offering I've had from North Peak. Their hop-focused beers are so good that I was expecting this to be on the level with those, and for me, it just didn't get there.

Serving type: bottle

07-05-2011 04:11:32 | More by EricCioe