Red Trolley Ale - Karl Strauss Brewing Company

kflorence

California

3.35/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Imported from my ratebeer.com profile - JUN 14, 2007

While it doesn’t blow me away, it is highly drinkable, has a great red-like amber color and smells of toasty hops with a tiny hint of vanilla/caramel. I think it’s one of the better Strauss beers, but it’s not exceptional.

Serving type: bottle

07-23-2011 06:17:33 | More by kflorence

ClayO

Arizona

4.25/5  rDev +20.7%

05-19-2013 22:34:10 | More by ClayO

gshak

Texas

3.75/5  rDev +6.5%

05-15-2013 13:17:39 | More by gshak

NickyG213

Arizona

4.25/5  rDev +20.7%

05-15-2013 05:37:47 | More by NickyG213

DrewShalvoy

California

3.5/5  rDev -0.6%

05-13-2013 17:36:49 | More by DrewShalvoy

sunny289

California

4/5  rDev +13.6%

05-02-2013 17:30:40 | More by sunny289

Braz

Washington

3.25/5  rDev -7.7%

04-24-2013 19:06:56 | More by Braz

lacqueredmouse

Australia

3.84/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Having tried a couple of Karl Strauss special release brews in California, I thought I'd check out some of their regular range that are now making their way to Australia. Purchased from Dan Murphy's in Alexandria.

Pours a lovely deep, slightly bronzed red colour, which matches the colour on the label rather nicely. Head forms a solid fine crest of beige, and settles out to a decent persistent ring. Carbonation is fine, and there's some weight behind the body. It's nice.

Nose is quite grainy, with a thin toffee sweetness backing it up. Some leafy-sweet and slightly earthy hops behind it, especially when the beer is swirled, and a marmalade sweet-citrus note. I'm actually liking it more as it goes along, and it makes a pleasant departure from the hopped up red I was expecting.

Taste is similarly less hoppy than expected, with more grainy notes and a light body. But there's subtle complexities here. The grain has a wholesome character to it, digestive biscuits and whole grains, mingling with some marzipan, a little honeyed sweetness and some pleasantly biting ester characters on the back: it might just be the hint of extra booze, but it provides a bit of a cut on the finish which is nice.

Feel is light, but solid enough.

Overall, this is pretty drinkable stuff. Once I got over the lack of hops, and realised that this was a very determined choice, it was clear that this was a pretty well-crafted brew. Though the flavours might be subtle, they're there to be explored. I enjoyed it.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2013 04:20:19 | More by lacqueredmouse

Newbiebeer

Connecticut

3/5  rDev -14.8%

04-21-2013 04:20:02 | More by Newbiebeer

magpieken

Australia

4/5  rDev +13.6%

04-08-2013 15:56:55 | More by magpieken

retry4z

California

3.5/5  rDev -0.6%

03-30-2013 04:20:59 | More by retry4z

bestpoop

California

4/5  rDev +13.6%

03-17-2013 20:08:38 | More by bestpoop

Puckstop98

4.75/5  rDev +34.9%

03-15-2013 14:37:51 | More by Puckstop98

MikeDre

California

2.75/5  rDev -21.9%

03-09-2013 02:42:40 | More by MikeDre

Therisse

California

2.5/5  rDev -29%

02-26-2013 17:45:54 | More by Therisse

duff247

Texas

3.25/5  rDev -7.7%

02-25-2013 00:23:07 | More by duff247

UC_SanDiegoDormRoomBrewer

4/5  rDev +13.6%

02-21-2013 07:08:24 | More by UC_SanDiegoDormRoomBrewer

Alek

California

3.5/5  rDev -0.6%

02-17-2013 03:32:25 | More by Alek

jesus808

California

3.25/5  rDev -7.7%

02-14-2013 07:58:37 | More by jesus808

Devinph

California

3.5/5  rDev -0.6%

02-06-2013 05:33:38 | More by Devinph

jpa01

Maryland

3.71/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: It's a dark red and amber looking beer, thinly foamed at the top.

Smell: It has a pleasant grainy, toffe-like aroma.

Taste: It has a malty, caramel taste with a mild bit of sweetness and fruitiness.

Mouthfeel: It feels like a medium-bodied beer, having moderate carbonation.

Drinkability: It seems sightly watered down, but is fairly smooth and easy to drink with or without food.

Overall: I'd say it's a solid red ale.

Serving type: on-tap

02-03-2013 16:17:13 | More by jpa01

p0wder2

4.49/5  rDev +27.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.75

I have no idea how to review beer yet. I'm still new :-)

The best thing I can say is that this beer is sweet as opposed to being bitter. I've always disliked beer in general, but only because I apparently wasn't drinking the right beer. It wasn't until I had a glass of this, that I decided beer can be awesome!

Serving type: on-tap

02-02-2013 20:57:42 | More by p0wder2

magictacosinus

California

3.13/5  rDev -11.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Poured out of a 12oz bottle into a pint glass.

Color is a slightly hearty reddish-amber, filled with mild carbonation and ascending bubbles that coat it with a decent 1-finger large head. This head descends down to next to nothing, leaving slight whitish streams of foam at the top after everything settles down. Eventually, not even a ring lasts, even with aggressive swirling. Looks a little murky overall, which is bizarre, as this relatively unfiltered in appearance.

The nose encounters huge cereal grainy notes at the front, followed by slight roasted rye aromas and lightly spiced malts. It smells like fresh, pure barley, which is undeniably soothing yet perhaps a bit distracting as it covers up everything else that should be going on this beer, such as any potential zestiness from the hops, or fruitiness from the yeast. No alcohol on the nose, yet no sweetness for that matter. Toasty, but limited.

The flavor is shock loaded with malted roasted barley flavors, followed with a hint of caramel notes and dried out hop zest. While not bad, it's not too complex and definitely the excessive graininess makes it out to be a tad too one-dimensional. Very, very biscuit-y in nature here. The body is slightly syrupy and sweet, and carbonated enough, but I couldn't imagine waiting for this to warm up, as it would probably get progressively thinned and the malty notes perhaps too oppressive in the long run.

I admit I had no idea this was supposed to be in an Irish red ale style - it definitely tasted like a less bittered up English bitter to me. For a SD beer, this is pretty mild on the hop side, but I unfortunately cannot vouch whether or not it's authentic to style, as I have little experience with Irish beer in general. This is definitely one of those for casual beer drinkers, and for the rest of us, there are definitely other amber ales that are more worthwhile to revisit.

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2013 02:25:38 | More by magictacosinus

danwho

California

4/5  rDev +13.6%

01-27-2013 06:11:56 | More by danwho

jhutch31

California

4.03/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Tried this beer while watching the Niners Game last Sunday. Poured into a 16 oz pint glass.

Appearance: My favorite quality of this beer was the appearance. Absolutely polished. Poured with a perfect 2 finger head with some lacing left in the glass. Carbonation was perfect and head retention was delightful.

Smell: This beer did not have a lot of aroma as I would think an irish red shouldn't. Hop character is low so you really smell more of the malts that were used than you do the hops.

Taste: The taste was good. Typical irish red flavor. It's my personal preference that I don't like irish reds to be really sweet, but have a slight amount of malt sweetness and focus more on the body and slightly doughy/biscuity character of the malts used. This beer was a little too sweet for me and after a few drinks, I started to enjoy it less and less. However, thats my personal preference and it is still a great beer. You can definately taste the caramel and toffee notes of what I presume to be the victory and munich malts that are used in the grain bill.

Mouthfeel: Mouthfeel was good. Smooth, well balanced and easy drinking.

Overall: I would say this is a good irish red, just not my style. If you are an irish red drinker, I would recommend you try this beer as it's won some very prestigous awards for its example of the style.

Serving type: bottle

01-22-2013 16:22:48 | More by jhutch31