Boston Red - Beer Works

BeerAdvocate

Massachusetts

3.1/5  rDev -7.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Presentation: On tap.

Appearance: Clear medium red with a thin white head.

Smell: Small doses of toasted grains.

Taste: Thin malt flavours with a light toast flavour that dries into a salty bitterness. Light bodied.

Notes: No big maltiness (caramel) and it does not quite taste as you would expect. Overall, this is a good red beer and very drinkable.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

05-12-1998 00:00:01 | More by BeerAdvocate

scmoore81

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev +4.5%

06-03-2013 23:50:19 | More by scmoore81

swgwilt

Tennessee

3/5  rDev -10.4%

05-30-2013 20:42:25 | More by swgwilt

Arborescence

Finland

3.5/5  rDev +4.5%

04-23-2013 15:01:56 | More by Arborescence

anewlanguage

Massachusetts

3.25/5  rDev -3%

10-12-2012 23:39:21 | More by anewlanguage

Rekrule

Massachusetts

2.25/5  rDev -32.8%

07-28-2012 22:46:05 | More by Rekrule

OriolesFan1008

Maryland

3/5  rDev -10.4%

07-19-2012 18:34:01 | More by OriolesFan1008

JimGlonke

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev +4.5%

05-28-2012 01:16:01 | More by JimGlonke

tigg924

Massachusetts

2.88/5  rDev -14%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Appearance: minimal head, high carbonation, amber in color, clear

Smell: toasted malt and light citrus hops

Taste: bread, honey, toasted malt and light citrus hops

Mouthfeel: light body, sweet with slight bitterness, moderate-low carbonation

Overall: An average amber that is on the maltier side. Not a bad beer, but nothing I would look for again. Beer Works makes better and there are more enjoyable in the style.

Serving type: bottle
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

03-30-2012 20:21:26 | More by tigg924

Aexoonge

California

4/5  rDev +19.4%

03-21-2012 17:16:45 | More by Aexoonge

oneturbucfan

Rhode Island

3/5  rDev -10.4%

12-10-2011 21:49:28 | More by oneturbucfan

jlordi12

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +19.4%

11-26-2011 20:01:51 | More by jlordi12

wedgie9

Tennessee

3.28/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

From notes. Tasted from a bottle that was given to me as an extra in a trade. Pours deep clear amber with a frothy tan head that has real staying power. Nose is a fairly boring caramel and nutty malt with a hint of aromatic bitter hops. The flavors are a little more prevalent with caramel malt, some dough yeast, and just the right amount of hops flavor. The body is light with an oily texture, average carbonation, and a medium but sticky finish of caramel malt.

Serving type: bottle
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

08-20-2011 16:37:30 | More by wedgie9

abgba121

Connecticut

4.13/5  rDev +23.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: pours a ruby color with very thin head and almost no lace

S: sweet and light, not very much here

T: sweet up front, then a strong bitter middle and smooth, crisp finsh

M: thin to medium body and good carbonation

O: good beer, a nice red ale, would have again

Serving type: bottle
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

08-17-2011 06:09:59 | More by abgba121

TheManiacalOne

Rhode Island

3.6/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a light copper color, with a thin off-white head that fades quickly and leaves a thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma contains caramelized malts, some fruit and some hops.

T: The taste starts out a little sweet with flavors of fruit and caramel. Then a hearty but not too heavy malt character comes in. The hops presence is mild but provides a good balance. The after-taste is slightly sweet and slightly bready.

M: Crisp and a little smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is slightly sticky.

D: Tasty, goes down easily, not too filling, mild kick, good representation of style, this is a solid beer worth drinking for a while, but there are better within the style.

Serving type: bottle
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

01-24-2011 01:52:54 | More by TheManiacalOne

ddean

Massachusetts

3.25/5  rDev -3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4.5

Had on tap at Logan.

Hazy but a pleasant amber-red color. Light foam with decent retention.

Smell is subtle and almost completely malt, maybe a faint bit of hops at the end of the whiff.

I get some sweet caramel. Not a bad flavor, but nothing interesting about it at all....Malt is pretty one note and not enough hops for my taste. I prefer those hoppier, West Coast Reds.

Mouthfeel not so good because the flavor and feel of the beer is gone as soon as you swallow.

I will say, though I did not like this beer, it is not offensive in any way and it has a nice combination of lightness and body, making it something that goes down easy if you wanted multiple pints. It's just that I'm a big beer guy, and this one has nothing unusual about it. To give you a sense, the closest taste I can think of is Honey Brown meets a red ale.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

11-27-2010 15:43:27 | More by ddean

MMansfield

Nova Scotia (Canada)

3.58/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Had on tap at Fenway location.

Appearance: Deep red colour with a big whitish head settled a little faster than I anticipated.

Aroma: Malt heavy, toast, caramel, bit of hops.

Taste: Again, malty first, touch of sweetness followed by a slightly dry bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Light-medium bodied, high drinkability.

Final Statement: Could be a session beer, but not one of my favourites I had there.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

08-03-2010 01:52:44 | More by MMansfield

jlindros

Massachusetts

2.85/5  rDev -14.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A: Even with an aggressive pour yields a minuscule head that fades quickly to just a light fizz. It's a super clear toasty reddish maple brown color.

N: Some sweet malts, a little sweet malty syrup, with some toasty malts, reddish darker malts, and a slight ale crispness. That, that's pretty much it.

T: Malty, not sure malty but there. A slightly sweet toasty malt flavor, some syrupy sweet malts, some reddish almost porter malts. Then with all that... is it... perhaps... maybe I can taste... almost there... it's... is it? Yes, a slight hint of earthy hops. Ha! Something other than boring malts. Wait, was that a dream I just had. I can't really tell, I'm not really sure if there are hops in it. Is that a hint of... water? Nope, lots of water. Anyways, boring red malts. End of story.

M: Lighter body with decent carbonation.

F: Dries a little, still leaves a little malty and sticky sweetness. Some spicy mouth feel, more like it would be a much higher abv beer on the tingly mouth finish, but its not. Some sticky sweetness and lingering syrupy malt flavors. Red malts linger. Wish I could add more. But nope. If they could package up the word bland and put it in the dictionary... er I mean beer dictionary, there would be a picture and scratch and taste sticker of this beer. Actually, for a scratch and taste sticker of this beer, take any sticker commercially available, scratch it and lick it. Taste anything? Exactly!

Serving type: bottle
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

04-17-2010 03:35:34 | More by jlindros

OtherShoe2

Massachusetts

3.15/5  rDev -6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Received a glass of reddish brown brew -- a good amber color, but not really ruby. Some fairly decent lacing, with a less than substantial head.

Milder aroma than expected. Toasted malt and some charred husk.

A bit on the mild side. Some decent hop bitterness, but not really hop distinctive. Bitter, but without flavor in that bitterness. Some toasted malt and some mild caramel, and some bready, maybe even biscuity flavors. A little boiled grain gives it a mashed, lightly sour aftertaste in the finish. Not horrible, but eh.

Fair body and decent carbonation. Nothing wrong here.

Overall, just ok. Not really blown away by this, and this one could have been a substitute for almost any other brew. It went down fairly easy, but that was mainly because it was not all that substantial. Not a palate clearing beer at all. This was the primary glass with the food and it did not hold up/stand up to the challenge at all. Just ok.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Lowell Beer Works, 203 Cabot St, Lowell

04-11-2010 19:34:43 | More by OtherShoe2

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.53/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Dark amber/light brown color. Moderately hazy. Although the head is modest, it does leave ample blanket lace on the glass

Earthy, dry malt aroma. Very faint hop nose.

Better hop presence in the taste. The malt is still the stronger flavor, still earthy. The aftertaste is well balanced, but short lived. The body is richer than most with a slightly higher level of carbonation.

Serving type: bottle
@ Lowell Beer Works, 203 Cabot St, Lowell

02-27-2010 22:31:04 | More by smcolw

cbutova

Massachusetts

3.43/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a very dark amber, almost brown, with a one finger head after a pretty aggressive pour. The head is pretty foamy with some large bubbles in the middle. The off-white head dies down decently quickly and leaves light lacing behind. As I pour it I can get some of the huge grainy malty aroma. Besides the malts I get a some fruity notes and a bit of piney and earthy hops. The strength of the aroma quickly dies down for me and it is hard to pick up anything but malts after a while. The aroma is decent but it needs more strength and after a while a bit of a chemical/metallic scent comes into play. Wow I never knew what people meant by the "wet dog" flavor. About 3-4 sips in it reminded me very briefly of my old dog walking in during a rainy day. (the beer was too cold at this point) This taste occurs right after swallowing and makes me wish the flavor while the beer was in my mouth lasted longer. It quickly turned to a taste of homebrew malts in a wort. The initial taste is just straight up homebrew type malts and a small dose of earthy and piney hops. As the beer warmed up, a little bit more hops came into play and really helped the beer out. I also do get that chemical/metallic note in the taste a bit, probably what bumped this down a bit for me. Mouthfeel is probably the best part of this beer. The body is moderate and so is the carbonation. In MF terms, this one goes down pretty smoothly. It does feel a tiny bit too watery to me and a little bit more of a creamy feel would do this one good. Drinkability is on the fence. It is definitely a beer that could be sessioned. However, drinkable beers are also ones that taste good. This one did not taste bad but I would not prefer to buy it again any time soon. A decent red, I think you can tell who this one is aimed for right when you take a sip.

Serving type: bottle
@ Lowell Beer Works, 203 Cabot St, Lowell

01-29-2010 19:55:16 | More by cbutova

MTNboy

Germany

3.9/5  rDev +16.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

It has a very dark red amber body with just a little bit of an off white head and lace. The aroma is very sweet. The taste is malty and sweet for the most part with some toffee like tones but there is slight floral hop bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and the carbonation suits it. It was a nice addition to the sampler I had.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

11-21-2008 12:42:37 | More by MTNboy

Patrick

Massachusetts

4.03/5  rDev +20.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Dark red in color, almost brown with a nice head.

S: Mostly malts on the nose, not much else.

T: Very malty, a little sweet caramel flavor.

M: Well carbonated, sticky, and a bit dry.

D: This would make a good session beer, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

04-18-2008 19:30:00 | More by Patrick

Boto

Connecticut

3.58/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Draught @ Fenway: This one pours a Reddish-amber color. It has a small white head and some lacing. A little better aroma than their other red. There are some spicy hops and a bit of caramel. The taste is a touch dry, with some spiciness and a good medium body. A good session beer.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

08-24-2006 17:26:42 | More by Boto

maristfan

New York

3.75/5  rDev +11.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Across from Fenway Park sits the BeerWorks and it's wall of taps. If you're going to see a "RED Sox" game what better beer to try than the Boston Red? I liked it! Full of color, red to burnt orange depending on the light, it smelled like a beer, nothing special there, but had a very drinkable pre-ballgame taste. Here's the thing, when you are about to pay 7 dollars for a Budweiser and there is a place like the BeerWorks right across the street I think anything they pour off tap is going to be more satisfying. It certainly was the more memorable beer of the evening, besides their blueberry(why do they float btw?). The Boston Red may not be the best red ale you ever have but it is certainly servicable and hits the spot on a nice day before the game.

Serving type: on-tap
@ Boston Beer Works - Fenway, 61 Brookline Avenue, Boston

05-17-2006 21:23:40 | More by maristfan