Switchback Brewing Company Ale

Ale

 

Switchback Brewing Company in Burlington, Vermont, United States 🇺🇸

  Amber / Red Ale - Irish Regular
Score
6.26
ABV: 5.0% IBU: 28 Ticks: 64
Using only traditional ingredients, Switchback Ale is a reddish-amber ale which is particularly well-balanced, allowing for complexity of flavor coupled with an unusually smooth and refreshing character. Five different malts, select hop varieties, and our own specially cultivated yeast create an ale which leads with hop flavors and a subtle impression of fruit (our yeast's contribution), followed by a palate pleasing malty finish. Our own special process uses the yeast to naturally carbonate the beer, and we leave it unfiltered. The result is a satisfying brew full of flavor with a remarkably clean and smooth finish.
 

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6.5/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7
Enjoyed at White Rock Pizza in Vermont. Unfiltered golden colour with a creamy white head and very good lacing. Mild hop scent with light fruity malts. Orange notes with a malty taste and decent hop in the finish. A nice unfiltered Pale Ale with a good fruity touch.
Tried on 23 Apr 2014 at 21:08

5.4/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 4 Overall 4.5
Draft @ Holy Grail in Epping. Amber in color, no kidding. Thin white slow receding head. Aroma is roasted grain and dirty English malts. Light fruit, citrus.

Flavor is toasted caramel malts, English influenced. Grainy body with light sweetness. Body is thin and watery. No much hop profile. I could smell fruit but can’t find hops in the flavor. After 12 oz. I really didn’t want anymore. Nothing makes it standout. Some lighter beer drinkers in New England love this stuff. I guess because it’s very simple and easy to drink.

Tried from Draft on 20 Apr 2014 at 08:02

6.5/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7
This brew pours a slightly hazy reddish-orange color with a medium off-white head that dissipates gradually. Stringy lacing on the glass. Aroma of floral hops and malt. Light-bodied with flavors of herbal hops, citrus and toasted malt. The finish is mildly bitter with a citrus and grassy hops aftertaste. Decent overall.
Tried on 21 Dec 2013 at 21:15

7/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 7
Tap: Poured a hazy amber color ale with a medium foamy head with OK retention and some lacing. Aroma of citrus based hops with some light caramelized malt. Taste is also dominated by citrus hoppy notes with light bitterness notes and some light caramelized malt notes. Body is about average with good carbonation. No major complexity with average hops profile but good drinkability factor.
Tried from Draft on 08 Jul 2013 at 10:43

5.1/10 — Appearance 10 Aroma 7 Flavor 3 Texture 4 Overall 3.5
Nice appearance. 1 finger fluffy head, amber hues. nose smells very much to the style, nice malt nose. Very weak taste, overall chewy, unpalatable very hard to finish more than a glass.
Tried on 17 May 2013 at 14:22

6.6/10 — Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
Pours a red/amber and has a one finger white foamy head, a decent amount of quickly sliding lacing, the smell has a malty sort of fruitiness with subdued hops in the background, the taste is semi-sweet with the hops coming through to balance, palate is light with a sweet malty finish, dry aftertaste, fairly sessionable; overall, this is good for the style and good for me.
Tried on 02 Apr 2013 at 07:22

5.9/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 5.5
Sampled at the brewery. Pours a hazy orange with some fluffy white head. I smelled it and said, "oh, an English Pale." The woman working there corrected me and said, "We think it’s more of an amber." Nose of citrus rind, malt, crackers, yeast. Flavor was similar, lightly bitter, light lemon, malt, biscuit, yeast. Dry finish. Very run of the mill.
Tried on 06 Feb 2013 at 04:55

4.8/10 — Appearance 2 Aroma 5 Flavor 5 Texture 6 Overall 5
From the 11/2012 3R6P tasting. +++ Sampled from a 750 ml brown bottle this beer poured a hazy dark amber color with a medium sized foamy white head that faded quickly and left a bit of lacing. The aroma was semisweet biscuit, vague fruity and citric hops and a bit of bread. The flavor was bitter biscuit, bread, fruity hops and perfume. Medium length bitter fruity and perfumey hop finish. Medium body. As basic as basic can be.
Tried from Bottle on 04 Nov 2012 at 17:14

4.4/10 — Appearance 6 Aroma 3 Flavor 5 Texture 4 Overall 4.5
No smell, no taste. Some traces of taste on the side of the glass but unfortunately nope, nothing. On tap at Salt Hill Pub in Newport, NH.
Tried from Draft on 23 May 2012 at 15:12

6.6/10 — Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
On tap at sweet water in Burlington VT. Pours an almost clear reddish amber color with a stingy white head that almost made it to the table with the glass. Smells of caramel and brown sugar with a hint of earthy hops and butterscotch. Taste follows the smell fairly well caramel and butterscotch with earthy herbal hop flavor. Medium body with a spirited level of carbonation and a slick earthy mouthfeel. Meh. This tastes like an earthy long trail ale to me. I could drink these, but I wouldn’t choose them from the cooler.
Tried from Draft on 26 Feb 2012 at 16:28