Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6.5
Hazy yellow with white head.Aroma of hops with sweet underlying malt. Flavor starts malty with a medium hop finish.Rather thin and slightly acidic
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5
Bottle #2:
Very slightly cloudy amber colour with a thin white head that fades fast! Strong smells of yeast, alcool and a bit of malt. Medium-bodied; Light flavour of malt, even lighter hops. But all with a more potent metallic, alcoholic and yeasty taste. Aftertaste very mild for a beer this strong...showing a bit of the malt character, but not much. Overall, not a good beer. This was a bit worse than my first bottle. I bought this twelve ounce bottle at Total Wine in Chantilly, Virginia and sampled it on 14-September-2003. Rating for this sample: 6,3,5,2,10.
Bottle #1:
Very slightly hazy orange/amber colour with a fairly dense tan head. Sweet smell that has strong hop and malt presence with a fruity characteristic. Strong aroma, and very nice. Medium to Full-bodied; Strong flavour of alcohol up front with a bit of malt then showing some hops near the end. No sweetness really, just bittering characteristics. Overall, worth trying as people have mentioned (its $1.50 for a 12 ounce), but its not a GREAT beer. Overall, not balanced enough and not enough of the 'good' characteristics come out. The alcohol is hidden well though, this seems pretty mild! I got this twelve ounce bottle in a trade with Dave (Rodolito) from California...Thanks again Dave! Rating for this sample: 8,4,6,2,12.
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5
Hazy gold with small white head.Light malt nose. Foretaste is sweet light malt, ending on a dry slightly acidic note. Quite fizzy.
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 5
The beer pours out a very light golden colour with a frothy white head. The aroma is almost purely of hops, but not very strong. The taste of the beer is somewhat hoppy, but not balanced...there are no detectable malt characteristics, and the beer is therefore soemwhat 'watery'. The aftertaste is almost non-existant as well. Not a good represenation of the style, in my opinion.
jhaase (14816) reviewed Red Tail Ale from Mendocino Brewing Company 22 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Honey malt nose. Some buttery tastenotes. Easy bitterhop finish. Nice but not super.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6
Light yellow color with some honey amber hues. Usual floral/hops aroma, though somewhat lighter in this case. First taste seemed unbalance and even a bit sour towards the end. However upon drinking more, and the beer’s warming, a more delicate flavor came out, and the beer came together very well. Nice bitter hops taste right away, though not overly so. Medium bitterness as far as IPAs go. The more this beer warmed the more I enjoyed it. Many floral notes with a lingering bitterness on the top edge of my mouth. Beer had a very soft, medium body that almost seemd like it added a touch of honey for you to land in after experiencing the initial hops. Good even finish with a surprisingly perfect amount of carbonation for the bottle, more than I usually like, but it complimented the beer well in its transition from a bitter beer to, as the carb evened out, a nice softer, almost amber ale. I could see where people think this is just an average unremarkable IPA and to some extent it is. But it manages to appeal as a lighter IPA, which is a nice turn from the kill you with hops approach(dont get me wrong I enjoy that too). It still adds a big punch at the start and the beer is very well balanced, making it, in my opinion an above average IPA.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
2003 bottle. Fruity smell, dark berries, blossomy floral aromas, very fragrant and fresh. Rust/Peachy-orange color. Clouded, which was nice to see. Bottle. Initial taste is a bit yeasty, pungent, somewhat sharp alcohol notes. Faint Bittersweet caramel notes on the back of the palate, that leave after the beer warms. Some orange blossom taste in the body. Medium full bodied. Some complexity comes out as beer warms. Good body, but bitter orange dominates a bit too much for my liking. Finishes with the same bitter floral/orange flavor. An improvement on the not as complex red tail ale.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
From Hollingshead Deli in Orange, CA. Took me 2 Mendocino brews to catch the bird theme. Cool! Pours a light amber color with a thin light beige head. Aroma is malty with a hint of alcohol. Flavors of malt and caramel dominate, with a little hops lingering. Finish is somewhat dry. ABV is well hidden. Pretty straightforward beer.
Dogbrick (24210) reviewed Red Tail Ale from Mendocino Brewing Company 23 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5
From Hollingshead Deli in Orange, CA. Nothing really exciting about this beer. Pours a slightly hazy orange color with a thin off-white head. Aroma is malty but it is barely detectable. Flavor is somewhat malty with a light hops counterbalance. Finish was lacking any real substance. Not a bad beer, but nothing really stands out about it either.
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Creamy yellow unfiltered look. Smells like a typical Pale Ale. Great initial taste, and soon after followed by hops, short aftertaste...but all around good Pale Ale.