Troutbrook Thomas Hooker Irish Red Ale

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 6

It pours dull deep copper with weak tan head. The aroma is a mix of earthy hops, spicy hops, caramel-y maltiness and grapefruit rind. Seems a tad odd. The taste sharp pithy bitter to acidic citrus to start and then fills in with thin rings of roasted malts, spicy hops and some caramel malts. Interesting and odd.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

Nasty sour off-tasting stuff! Maybe it was a bad keg? Very little nose, tiny skim coat of a head, no lace, copper body, thin mouth, very sour flavor, touch of hops, no malt, sucked!

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

This had a robust caramel aroma and a hint of spice. It poured a delicious looking deep red.....so dark, in fact, that I could not see through the glass. The head was rich and thick and quite long lasting. The taste was powerful with the roasted caramel coming through and just a hint of bitterness. All in all, this was very enjoyable!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Eh, I just don't dig these Irish Ales, but for the style, this one isn't all that bad. Dark caramel color, nice head and really nice lacing. Aroma was hoppy with that distinctive irish red aroma that reminds me of cardboard. Flavor was full flavored and hoppy...some touches of caramel and maybe even a little chocolate to go along with a hop crispness that really bites you.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Poured a deep copper to brown color, a dark beer, somewhat like a Smithwick's in that sense. The appearance wasn't as pretty as a Smithwick's, but the head was decent, as was the lacing, nice thin head retention. The aroma was hoppy w/ light roasts, maybe some caramel or other non-descript malts mixed in there? The flavor followed suit, very strong hop profile (like an amber ale), noble bitter hops, caramel malts, roasted malts, some fruity ester flavors (like an altbier in some ways), light bready notes. The mouthfeel was grainy with some squeeky clean sensations after each sip, bitter. A decent beer, but overhopped for an Irish Ale.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Just recently had this one and it was very interesting. The aroma was decent with some nice caramel notes as well as some sweetness with some slight maltiness and breadiness. The appearance was a very dark burgundy, almost so black, it could be mistaken as a porter with a head on top that is medium-sized and a light-tan in color and diminishes to some extent. The mouthfeel was medium-bodied with some decent complexity and balance with a palate that was thick. The flavor was almost chalky and I even almost thought it was a dark brown ale or porter but did offer some sweet malt as well as caramel overtones. Overall, a very interesting beer that, in my opinion, should not be considered an Irish ale/Amber ale but for the most part it was very drinkable and not too bad.