Sassy Red
Mac's Brewery

Sassy RedSassy Red
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From:
Mac's Brewery
 
New Zealand
Style:
English Bitter
ABV:
4.5%
Score:
83
Avg:
3.63 | pDev: 11.85%
Reviews:
21
Ratings:
37
Status:
Active
Rated:
Nov 21, 2021
Added:
Apr 17, 2005
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  2
No description / notes.
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Ratings by labrooy:
Photo of labrooy
Rated by labrooy from Australia

3.5/5  rDev -3.6%

Dec 21, 2011
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.28 by Daneve76 from Australia

Nov 21, 2021
 
Rated: 3.58 by BAsbill from California

Mar 29, 2017
 
Rated: 3.97 by ZachRusk from Ohio

Aug 04, 2015
 
Rated: 3.56 by Guden from Maryland

Nov 25, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by redmaw from Pennsylvania

Oct 24, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by spycow from Illinois

Sep 28, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by probert from New York

Sep 12, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by seadragon99 from New Zealand

Jul 09, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Bobhoya from Arizona

Feb 20, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Agentveba from North Carolina

Sep 12, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by kscaldef from Oregon

Aug 28, 2013
 
Rated: 2.5 by pin from Australia

May 21, 2013
Photo of soju6
Reviewed by soju6 from Missouri

3.5/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A: Pours a nice amber color with a small head that fades to nice lacing.

S: Aroma of roasted malt sweetness with spice and some grain in the back ground.

T: Taste of malt sweetness and a bit of spice. Mild bitterness and a clean finish.

F: fairly medium body, smooth and a bit creamy. Has a distinct character.

O: Nice drinker that goes down easy. Not bad for the style.
Aug 17, 2012
Photo of SmashPants
Reviewed by SmashPants from Australia

3.08/5  rDev -15.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
Bottle: 330mL brown stubbie, pretty boring label. I'd expect a bit better for a reasonably expensive beer.

Appearance: healthy dark reddish-bronze. Good loose-bubbled head. Little carbonation. Good lacing.

Aroma: spicy hop oil on the nose - vegetal and herbal. Not a lot of malt.

Taste: falls down a bit. Based on roasted malt, but a bit too subdued. Expected more flavour. Hops are a bit overwhelmed by metallic fug.

Aftertaste: what little flavour there was has disipated, not much in the aftertaste at all. Some malts remain.

Mouthfeel: moderate carbonation - almost too much. Medium-bodied.

Overall: some roasted malts and some vegetal hops, but all together an unsophisticated and expensive lighter ale. For AU$55 a case (2012), I won't be bothering again.
Jun 28, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by hopnerd from Australia

May 09, 2012
 
Rated: 2.5 by tedho21 from Pennsylvania

Jan 31, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by MenInVen from Australia

Dec 29, 2011
Photo of doktorhops
Reviewed by doktorhops from Australia

3.7/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
It's not hard to like Mac's; a brewery based in Nelson NZ that follows the strict German "Reinheitsgebot" (or "purity law") and tries to give their beers an interesting kiwi hop spin to their beers (which generally include the fantastic "cascade" hop to boot!). I certainly enjoyed my last Mac's brew outing (in the form of the impressive Hop Rocker), and I suspect for a beer that proudly includes 5 different types of malt I will likewise enjoy this.

Poured from a 330ml bottle into a conical pint... though the conical pint does look a little "glass half-empty" with only 330ml's in it.

A: I'm awed by such a perfect clear sienna body and the mighty 2cm chalk white head that sticks around longer than expected before leaving a healthy lace inside my glass. Top marks here.

S: The aroma has a decent caramel malt base mixed in with a biscuit accent and golden syrup sweetness. It's definitely no slouch with the hops either - I can detect an earthy slightly citrus hop nose, which is quite welcome in my books.

T: Damn this is close to a decent English bitter! The caramel malts are up front with a mid to back palate bitterness throughout and an earthy (even nutty) tone is present. There is very little of the sweetness I was expecting in the nose. The flavour is good but not great - the bitterness of the hops is too present for this style, it needed to be easier on the bitterness (despite being called English bitter the style itself is far from it).

M: Low to mid carbonation as an English style brew should be. The body is also on par being medium-bodied.

D: I want to like this beer more because it ticks all the boxes of being a great ale; all except that present bitter note in the palate, which is really holding this beer from being a real classic drop. Otherwise it's a good brew for the price (when it's on special that is), and it goes down fairly well.

Food match: My food match for this beer is light stews/casseroles or roast lamb, veggies and gravy (or mint sauce). Some of the less matured cheeses would also match well with this.
Oct 21, 2011
Photo of crusian
Reviewed by crusian from Oregon

3.41/5  rDev -6.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Draft at northern steamship brewery. Pours more of a dark golden than a red, nice finger of head. Lacing is really nice too.
Nose is weak on hop, heavy on caramel malt... not much else going on.
Taste is heavy on the hops, English bitter hops. Damnit, chose this one because it smelled boring and thus would leave my palate in tact. Nice flavor on this, hops dominate for sure, malt plays in the back, but are there...
Nicely carbed, light to medium bodied. A nice surprise.
Oct 14, 2011
Sassy Red from Mac's Brewery
Beer rating: 83 out of 100 with 37 ratings