Cader Ales (Cwrw Cader) Cwrw Coch (Red Bandit)

Cwrw Coch (Red Bandit)

 

Cader Ales (Cwrw Cader) in Dolgellau, Gwynedd, Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

  Bitter - ESB / Strong Bitter Regular
Score
6.21
ABV: 5.0% IBU: - Ticks: 13
A warm ruby ale based on a traditional recipe with spicy berry aromas. Legend tells of the Red Bandits of Mawddwy; a notorious 16th century band of ‘flame haired’ outlaws who roamed the hills ambushing travellers as they crossed the high pass between Dolgellau and Dinas Mawddwy. Fabled to be the most lawless part of Wales at that time, the area remains a beautiful but still desolate point today.
 

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6.4
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Bottle bought Vinomondo, Conwy. Clear dark amber. Frothy foamy white head soon thins out. Aroma combines spice with a wiod and grains bitterness. Berries. Flavourwise it has berry sourness alongside a peppery spiciness. Underlying seeet fruit and light caramel malts. Light. Thin. Soft carbonation provides lift. Long dry slightly astringent finish. Nice enough.

Tried from Bottle from Vinomondo on 02 Aug 2025 at 20:41


6.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Bottle from Stori. Appearance - deep amber with a very slightly off white head. Nose - Highland toffee with an edge of shortbread. Taste - more of the same. Palate - close to medium bodied. Chewy texture. Initial sweetness that finishes fairly dry eventually. Overall - more of a Bitter than an Amber ale.

Tried from Bottle on 04 Jul 2020 at 20:59


5.4
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5

Bottle from Rhug Farm Shop, Wales. Amber-brown with a negligible white head and a middling fizz. Dominated by caramel and malt, with a touch of Ribena and a smidgen of spice. Negligible hop presence. It's on the sweet side, and the mouthfeel is rather clammy, but it's just about drinkable.

Tried from Bottle on 19 Oct 2019 at 07:43


5.2
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Bottle at Firkin Alehouse Folkestone. very malty and sweet aroma. some carbonation. some boiled sweet. some toffee. under attenuated. too sweet. brown sugar caramel. boiled sweets. not much hop. I struggled with it

Tried from Bottle on 02 Mar 2019 at 14:11


5
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5

Cask @ Wynnstay Arms, Machynlleth. Golden with a thin head. Has a dense texture for its strength and a hop-malt balance.

Tried from Cask on 06 May 2018 at 10:57


6.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Cask at the Wynnstay Arms Hotel, Machynlleth. Pours reddy brown with a small head. Aroma is jammy burnt toast. Taste has earthy hedgerow fruit and jammy bread.

Tried from Cask on 09 Apr 2018 at 17:38


5.5
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

500ml bottle @ Myrddin’s Bar Caffi, Barmouth. Pours reddish amber, small bubbly head. Aroma of light caramel malt, light spice. Taste is smooth, quite light, breezy malts, lightly spicy, earthy hops. No world-beater but served its purpose on this baking hot day.

Tried from Bottle on 20 Jun 2017 at 08:25


6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Cask (gravity) @ Nottingham Robin Hood Beer Festival (2014), Nottingham Castle, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England NG1 6EL. [ As Cader Red Bandit ].Clear medium yellow - amber orange color with a small to average, frothy - fizzy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, toasted - caramel, pale malt, apple. Flavor is moderate sweet and light moderate bitter with a average to long duration, earthy hops, pale malt. Body is medium, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is soft to flat. [20141008]

Tried from Cask on 11 Jul 2015 at 02:25


6.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle share round at Richy’s. Reddy amber. Off white head. Fruit. Sweet malts. Tastes pithy bitter. Has a spiciness to it. Pretty drinkable ESB.

Tried from Bottle on 01 Jul 2015 at 08:52


6.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

27th June 2015: 500ml bottle taken by me to the 2nd Annual Midlands tasting, just to give everyone a new Welsh brewery tick. Split between 5, so we all had a decent amount to rate. Not as red as the bottle label would have you believe: it is light amber in colour, the head off-white, still looks OK though, even if it isn’t red. Malty lead in the nose and flavour with a red berry feel to both also, some herbal like spiciness runs through the brew too. Another decent beer to come out of Wales.

Tried from Bottle on 29 Jun 2015 at 15:47