The Red C - Sloop Brewing

oberon

North Carolina

4.23/5  rDev +10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into an imperial nonic a burnt orange infused lighter amber with a sticky one finger off white head atop.Citric and piney hops over top of brown sugar and caramel malts in the nose,pretty balanced.Bigger hops on the palate with alot of bitter grapefruit rind notes,more resiny as I drink more,a nice chocolate maltiness in background to go along with the brown sugar.A nice hopped up amber just the way I like em.

Serving type: bottle

12-01-2012 22:18:34 | More by oberon

flagmantho

Washington

3.96/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from 22oz bomber into a pint glass.

Appearance: amber hue with a moderate haze and a pretty strong effervescence. There are a few floaties swimming around in the body, and the head is two thick fingers of pillowy light-tan foam. Quite attractive.

Smell: sweet mat aroma with a rich component of hops: citrusy, piney, resiny and fruity. The sweet, slightly caramelly undertone creates a nice canvas upon which the hop aromas are built. I think the overall effect is quite enticing indeed. Love it.

Taste: the malt is a combination of sweet caramel and a danker, dustier character; the hops show up as a brooding, slightly vegetal funk. There is an interesting juxtaposition here with the cheerier aroma. Bitterness is moderate and balanced (for a hop-bomb kind of beer), but the final effect is not particularly clean. It's good, and I can see it really floating someone's boat, but it doesn't ensnare me quite so much.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a big, well-integrated carbonation and a very satisfying, engaging, mouth-filling creaminess. Not bottle-conditioned Belgian wonderful, but definitely entering that weight class.

Overall: this beer has a lot going for it, and although I am not super crazy about the flavor, I can easily blame most of that on the style (which is, admittedly, not my favorite). If I have to sit down and drink an amber ale, this is absolutely not a bad choice at all.

Serving type: bottle

01-21-2013 07:45:55 | More by flagmantho

Kendo

New York

3.89/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

A: Poured from the bomber into a Sam Smith's nonic-style imperial pint glass. Body is orangey-amber (more orangey than amber) with a big (3-finger) ecru-colored bubbly head. Some foamy lace clings to the glass on the way down.

S: Nice nose - good caramel malt and citrusy-hop combination.

T: Surprisingly bitter given the strong scent of caramel malt in the nose. There's some modest malt underneath, but it's followed up by minerally hop bitterness. Finishes with lingering dry bitterness that puckers the palate, if that makes sense. A bit of soapiness is noted after awhile. Bottle says it's only 34 IBUs but it drinks like a much more bitter beer than that.

M: Good creaminess to it; drinks fairly light, heft-wise. Call it the lighter side of medium.

O: Decent, but not great. Oddly one-dimensional in taste (mainly bitterness) after the caramel malty nose. Was hoping for a Nugget Nectar-type near-Imperial Red, but this Red C is more like a Red Lake. Needs more malt and a different balance of hops to be world class. Still, if you like a hoppy, easy-to-drink amber ale, you should be happy with this.

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2013 01:39:52 | More by Kendo