Off The Rails - Karl Strauss Brewing Company

LiquidAmber

Washington

3.98/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a Gulden Draak tulip. Pours a medium coppery amber. Thin off-white head that dissipates slowly leaving lacing. Aroma dominated by caramel malt with a hint of fruit. Taste is sweet, bready and caramel malt (and lots of it), light and dark fruit, faint hops. Very interesting aftertaste of cherries and other fruit esters. The malts are forward, but fairly mellow. The fruit ester in the finish redeems this otherwise kind of quite and mellow malt ale. Medium bodied with some creaminess. Interesting and different.

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2012 04:06:41 | More by LiquidAmber

yonnie

California

3.9/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Poured into tulip. Amber red with a finger of creamy off-white head.

S - Sweet malts, spice, yeast. Very light sweet aromas.

T - More sweet malts, toasted bread, red apples with caramel. Slight alcohol.

M - Light to medium, very slightly bubbly on the tongue. Smooth and creamy.

O - If I'm not mistaken, this is the first Imperial Amber I've ever had. Overall it is quite enjoyable. If you're looking for a big character beer with malt dominance as opposed to the typical hop-bomb, this is a great choice.

Serving type: bottle

06-08-2012 00:13:15 | More by yonnie

whatthehull

California

3.85/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

tulip

A - translucent blood red, one finger off white almost ten head (that sticks around for a while) and some minimal lacing

S - Tons of malt, candy sugar, holiday spices, slight oak, some booze, dried out branches, dark fruits, very yeasty, apple blossoms, and very slight hop

T - lots of very nice malts, almost taste like apple, slightly toasted, sweet beady yeast, slight bitter/sour note, holiday spices, terrior, hops oils, a bit floral and once it cool, nice and fruity

M - medium plus body, low acidity, well balanced, decent complexity and medium finish

D - If you like malty ales this one is as good if not better than many. Refreshing, nice flavors and not to much or to little. Not a huge fan Of KS, but this is a nice easy drinking beer

Final thought - $8 a pop? Stop it. Other than the price tag I like this beer. Also 8.4% is nice too

Serving type: bottle

11-25-2011 22:59:43 | More by whatthehull

magictrokini

California

3.8/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Poured orange-red into a tulip glass with minimal head. Good lacing at the top. Fragrant citrus hops in the nose, lots of grapefruit, with an equal amount of caramel malt. Smells strong and alcholic. Slick mouthfell with lower carbonation and a long, sticky finish. Bitter hops up front, lots of resin, give way to sweeter citrus flavors. Grapefruit and blood orange flavors dominate, but there is a nice undercurrent of melon. This is all blended with the omnipresent caramel malt. Some dried fruits appear briefly, but infrequently. The beer is a bit rough around the edges in terms of drinkability, but overall is very pleasant.

Serving type: on-tap

09-01-2009 20:32:09 | More by magictrokini

srandycarter

California

3.78/5  rDev -5.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

At the Main Tap in El Cajon.

A - Amber/ Dark Honey, very thin near white head.

S - Very, very light malt smell.

T - Very sweet, deep malt, clean finish as result of nice hop balancing.

M - Great balance, medium body, coating and perfectly carbed.

D - Sweet, but balanced well. Nice beer.

Serving type: on-tap

08-13-2010 17:18:53 | More by srandycarter

HopHead84

California

3.55/5  rDev -11%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

7/10/2011

On tap at URGE

A: Dark reddish amber with a small white head.

S: Caramel and pine with a little earth and citrus. The beer gives the impression of rich and complex malt.

T: Rich caramel malt with faint notes of raisin and plum. Moderate hop bitterness with orange, pine, and earth. Finishes with lingering caramel.

M: Medium body with lower moderate carbonation.

Overall: A solid Imperial Red.

Serving type: on-tap

07-11-2011 18:15:07 | More by HopHead84

inlimbo77

Delaware

3.55/5  rDev -11%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

22oz, No bottle date
Central Waters globe

A: Pretty slightly hazy reddish amber color. Not a lot of head. Basically just a thin ring of off white head around edges. There is carbonation but its minimal.

S: On the nose, it's mostly really caramel and toffee like malt. It's almost barleywine like initially. Some toasted breadiness. Maybe some soapy pine behind that.

T: Tip of the tongue, some bitterness. A piney hop flavor there. Then it gets into the red ale like character. Really malt driven. Getting that toasted breadiness that I smelled. Then the caramel and toffee and biscuit.

M: Full medium body.

Serving type: bottle

10-30-2012 18:06:00 | More by inlimbo77

ocelot2500

Arizona

3.5/5  rDev -12.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a hazy dark amber with a tight, off-white head that leaves little bits of lacing.

Smells of rich caramel malts.

Tastes of the malts mostly, with a slight hop counternote. Malts lead off with caramel, toffee, and toasted bread. Fairly sweet. Some slight hops come on the end with an earthy note, but I would say this is a malt bomb.

Mouthfeel is medium-full with a smooth amount of carbonation.

Overall, this is a pretty good beer, but I would like it to be a bit more balanced.

Serving type: bottle

06-04-2012 02:20:42 | More by ocelot2500

ehammond1

California

3.48/5  rDev -12.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

On Tap

Karl Strauss Brewing Company
Carlsbad, CA

Dark red and amber with a thin khaki colored head. This beer leaves the glass clean and a bit oily.

Very bready aroma with some significant caramel sweetness as well. Simple, pleasant enough, and very bready, though there's a bit of alcohol presence.

This tastes like toasted bread with a bit of caramel and toffee sweetness. Moderate bitterness. Simple, but a bit of alcohol heat hurts this beer's drinkability.

Medium bodied with ample carbonation, but a bit boozy.

An extremely bready red ale, and flavorful enough per the style, though nothing at all very good.

Serving type: on-tap

11-08-2011 02:56:17 | More by ehammond1

notchucknorris

California

3.45/5  rDev -13.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A: Dark copper color with pretty much no head at all. Thin ring of tan foam on the top.

S: Tons of sweet malt with some hints of berries. I get blackberries and maybe some red currants.

T: Big and malty with some hints of berries and a lot of breadiness. Had no idea how strong it was until it was too late. Sneaky beer.

Serving type: on-tap

01-08-2012 08:42:47 | More by notchucknorris

Eriktheipaman

Virginia

3.25/5  rDev -18.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured a dark amber with little white head.

The smell is malty as to be expected with a little more hops and alcohol coming through.

The taste is strange. At first I pick up a lot of that caramel malts I love in Red Trolly but as I drink on all I get is hops and alcohol. The finish is fairly dry which makes the alcohol and hops much more intense.

Overall I'm glad I tried it but this beer just isn't for me.

Serving type: on-tap

07-16-2011 01:09:40 | More by Eriktheipaman