Widmer Brothers W'06 NW Red Ale

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

Bottle Date March 07, 2006, Sampled June 2006
Pours a brilliantly clear, dark, amber red color that is topped by a frothy, creamy, pretty well lasting, initially two-finger thick, tan colored head. The aroma is suitably hoppy with a raw herbal note that mixes nicely with citrus-like notes of grapefruit. Underneath the hop notes are some subtle notes of malt, including caramelized notes as well as a bit of toasted malt character.

Actually a bit chew on the palate, it tends to just coat the mouth. Sweet up front, which plays up the citrus hop notes, but aggressively hoppy throughout. Menthol-like notes of herbal pine mix nicely with notes of ruby-red grapefruit, sweet orange and perhaps a touch of lychee. Some notes of caramelized malt and toffee become noticeable towards the end of a sip, and in fact stick around for a bit even after the beer is swallowed. The finish has a nice, solid, yet smooth bitterness that does not linger all that much. What does linger is a sharp citrus note and the previously mentioned malt character. Quite a nice drinking beer, better than I expected, and that is always nice.

Sampled on tap at Papago Brewing February 2006
Pours with a frothy, initially one-finger thick, dirty, tan colored head that leaves a lacing pattern as I work my way through this pint. The beer is brilliantly clear and is a deep red color. The aroma is hoppy with notes of candied grapefruit mixed with pine and ample crystal malt notes if you look for them underneath the hops.

The taste is sweet with a somewhat full mouthfeel; in fact it coats the mouth a bit after you swallow a draught of this beer. There is also a certain creaminess to the mouth feel here, which smoothes out and accentuates some of the aggressive flavors in this beer. There is lots of hop character here; I get notes of raw herbal pine that are rounded out by candied citrus notes that make me think of tangerines and blood oranges. This beer is a definite sipper, it is quite full bodied and chewy with lots of sweet malt to hold up to the onslaught of hops. There are lots of caramel notes towards the middle of this beer as well. This is certainly a nice contemplative way to end an evening.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

12 oz bottle dated 3/21/06. Pours a deep reddish brown with a large fluffy light tan head that is long lasting and coats the glass with lacing.

The aroma is caramel malts and grassy piney hops.

The flavor is slightly sweet bready caramel malts initially followed by a good deal of piney hop bitterness that lingers in the aftertaste, but is balanced by a little residual sweetness. There's a little melon fruitiness as well. The mouthfeel is medium to full with velvety carbonation.

Overall, a pleasant surprise. It's a drinkable, nicely hopped red (makes for a good IPA).

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

. Dark coppery red, clear, with a small tan head. The aroma is rather on the subdued side, what there is is mainlly malty with a hint of piney hoppiness in the back. this is a rather malt dominated ale to start off..semi sweet then the hops take over and leave a long lingering bitterness. Not bad mouthfeel atg all..quite good in fack. Not a bad beer at all from Widmer, i had three. This is a good shot at a strong red ale..but still nowere near as good as Deschutes Cinder Cone Red.