Pony Express Tornado Red Ale
Flying Monkey Brewing Company

Pony Express Tornado Red AlePony Express Tornado Red Ale
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From:
Flying Monkey Brewing Company
 
Kansas, United States
Style:
American Amber / Red Ale
ABV:
Not listed
Score:
81
Avg:
3.43 | pDev: 10.79%
Reviews:
17
Ratings:
18
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jan 13, 2014
Added:
Feb 27, 2002
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
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Rated: 3 by Shafaegalo from Texas

Jan 13, 2014
Photo of zeff80
Reviewed by zeff80 from Missouri

3.6/5  rDev +5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
A - Poured out a somewhat cloudy, orange color with hints of ruby. A small, off-white head left minimal trails of lace.

S - It smelled of sweet roasted malt with grassy/floral notes.

T - It had a biscuity, sweet maltiness with a nice caramel flavor. A slight hop bitterness hits you at the back of the tongue.

M - A sharp, crisp and medium-bodied ale.

D - This is a pretty good amber ale. Very affordable and tasty. It's worth trying if you are a fan of the style.
Oct 20, 2008
Photo of jdhilt
Reviewed by jdhilt from New Hampshire

3.36/5  rDev -2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Pours a three finger off-white head that fades slowly leaving a good lace. Clear amber color. Light carbonation and light bodied. Slight malty nose. Starts almost sweet with hint of hops, some bitterness at finish. $1.39 for a 12oz bottle from John's Grocery Iowa City, IA.
Jan 15, 2007
Photo of cbl2
Reviewed by cbl2 from New York

3.18/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
7/31/2005 $6.99 6 pack 5.67% No best by date.

Appearance:

Pours a clear amber-brown with roughly a half-inch of white head that settles slowly leaving behind some decent lacing.

Aroma:

Strong malt character with hints of toffee & smoked peat.

Taste/Mouthfeel:

Flavors are bland and uninspired with an offputting bitter aspect, and none of the sweet malts that were promised in the aroma.
Aug 02, 2006
Photo of dirtylou
Reviewed by dirtylou from Oklahoma

3.6/5  rDev +5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
12oz single, Brennan's - University

appearance: pours into an imperial pint glass...a light copper-amber body, with a very small white foamy head that has very little retentions

smell: very sweet, artificial berry aromas (blackberry/blueberry), sweet caramel malt, lightly spiced, faint grassy-herbal hop aroma

taste: interesting amber...flavour is a little too artifical though, berry sweetness, a touch woody, thick caramel malt presence, slightly peppery, cheap dark red apple, a touch grassy, distant herbal hops

mouthfeel: medium body, lightly syrupy

drinkability: pretty good
Jun 24, 2006
Photo of beveragecaptain
Reviewed by beveragecaptain from New Jersey

3.6/5  rDev +5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
12 ounce bottle. Toronado Red pours out a mostly clear amber color with a small head. The aroma is very malty and sweet. It has the burnt caramel sweetness typical of the style along with a moderate fruitiness. The hops are present, but secondary to the maltiness. That being said, the malt flavor is not quite as thick as I would like it to be. Mouthfeel is medium. The hops subdue the sweetness just enough to make this beer drinkable and even slightly refreshing. A decent red ale, but nothing to get excited over.
Feb 18, 2006
Photo of LiquidBreadMan
Reviewed by LiquidBreadMan from Texas

3.18/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Tornado Red pours a brassy copper (if there is such a hue), with a medium head and a little lacing. It's an attractive beer. The aroma is fairly impressive too. My nose sensed pineapple and butter cream (from the malts perhaps). The flavor was odd but okay -- spicy persimmon with slight maltiness and decent hops. Carbonation is less than average with a snappy aftertaste. This beer would go well with a mellow cheese or even as a palate cleanser, but it's only 'okay' as a stand alone brew.
Dec 30, 2005
Photo of RBorsato
Reviewed by RBorsato from Virginia

4.33/5  rDev +26.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
More golden in color with a decent light beige head, good carbonation, and good lace. Nice light hop aroma at first with spicy malt notes to follow. Nice balanced light spice and light hop flavors with grassy notes. Medium-light bodied with a spicy white pepperish finish; lightly smooth.

Very nice Amber/Red Ale

Per BOM notes: 5.67% ABV. 18 IBU.
Malts: 2-row, Caramel-30, Caramel-80, Munich, Muessdorffer Munich, Crystal, Euro Vienna. Soy flour.
Hops: Centennial, Hallertau

Silver - 1997 GABF - American Amber Ale

'16805' lasered on neck
Tasted: 11/12/05
Nov 14, 2005
Photo of Gruntlumber
Reviewed by Gruntlumber from Missouri

3.13/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
The first thing to note is this is a red ale, not APA. All the Pony Express beers I've tried have been rather average, but definitely not bad. This is yet another brew to add to their average list. Typical red/amber hue, heavier on the malt vs hops, certainly very drinkable. Similar to some Marzen/Oktoberfest characteristics, but still, a boring beer to drink and a boring beer to review.
Oct 24, 2005
Photo of TPoling
Reviewed by TPoling from Texas

3.58/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Pours a light amber to copper with a sight head that goes to a film very quickly, but leaves a sticky lace. The crackery malt nose is accentuated with a slight scent of fresh hay and citrus.

The sweet malt and understated hops still manage to balance nicely and there is a little tart orange to add interest. The bitterness comes more in the aftertaste to demand another quaff. The malt from this grower-owned brewery is really the star of this ale.
Oct 24, 2005
Photo of tgbljb
Reviewed by tgbljb from Pennsylvania

3.63/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
poured a beautiful copper color with moderate white head that fell to a slight ring. Smell is malty mixed with a little citrus. Taste is malty and slightly dry, but not really that notable. Finished a little dry. Easy to drink beer, but not outstanding.
Aug 28, 2005
Photo of SwillBilly
Reviewed by SwillBilly from Virginia

3.09/5  rDev -9.9%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Poured from a 12 oz bottle, this beer is light copper in color and leaves a 2 finger, foamy, off-white head. Head dissipates leaving a nice,off-white lacing on the glass.

Very odd smell to this beer, sort of metallic, grassy, can't pick up any hints of hops.

Sweet, caramel malty front that finishes with a slight hop bitterness. Not enough hops for an APA.

Mouthfeel is slightly oily and slick, and a bit thin.

Easy to drink, but not one I would buy or seek again. There are too many better APA's than this one.
Aug 22, 2005
Photo of Citadel82
Reviewed by Citadel82 from New Jersey

2.83/5  rDev -17.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Pours a reddish amber with a healthy if somewhat ephemeral white head. Left sparse lacing as it receded.

Aroma was funky to me, some sweet malt but mainly yeasty.

Taste was somewhat difficult to savor: Some sweet malt followed by funky yeast with a faint hop finish and a dry but not pleasntly so, aftertaste.

Mouthfeel was typical.

Drinkable but I won't seek this out.
Aug 17, 2005
Photo of jdm
Reviewed by jdm from Texas

3.6/5  rDev +5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
this red pours amber mostly, just a touch of red to it. two finger head that really grabs the sides of the glass lacing all the way down. smell caramel malt and earthy ice tea smell. quality mouthfeel but a little slick. finishes just a tad dry and bitter making this brew very drinkable but not overly impressive. if this beer was local to me i could imagine it being a regular of mine but it is not one that i would hunt down.
Aug 09, 2005
Photo of BuckeyeNation
Reviewed by BuckeyeNation from Iowa

3.25/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Ripe tangerine with no red that I can detect. The head is at least four fingers after a high altitude pour, is light caramel in color and has a quality look about it. It seems reluctant to depart and is tacky enough to leave small sheets of pocked lace. Not a stunner, but it more than gets the job done.

The nose, although reasonably pleasant for a red ale, is barely above average. Equal parts lightly toasted pale/caramel malt and orange fruity hops mean that it's balanced. It's all rather pedestrian, stuck in the middle of a busy thoroughfare, somewhere between a friendly 'Drink' and a flashing red 'Don't Drink'.

After tasting I'm no longer inclined to consider it above average. Tornado Red Ale is a friendly, easy drinking beer, but the flavor leaves more than a little something to be desired. Neither the malt nor the hops stand out in any way, consequently the flavor profile tastes muddled to me.

I can appreciate caramel malt with the same lackluster orange fruitiness (I hesitate to call it hoppiness) that I picked up in the nose. There's very little malt sweetness. If anything, the beer finishes on the dry and bitter side. The mouthfeel is light-medium and feels somewhat flat; a flatness that's as much flavor-related as it is carbonation-related.

Tornado Red Ale is little more than a strong gust of wind. It's a harmless little number that Pony Express has chosen to bring out of retirement and to associate with the Kansas City Chiefs. It might be the best beer available at Arrowhead, but that's hardly a ringing endorsement.
Aug 02, 2005
Photo of whynot44
Reviewed by whynot44 from Missouri

3.7/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Very nice copper colored brew with a moderate ivory head, that dissipates a little too quickly leaving only a trace of lacing.

The aroma is grainy with a bit of herbal, grassy hops.

The taste starts out all sweet caramelly malt then the herbal hops kick in with a hint of citrus at the finish. The aftertaste is grainy with a touch of caramel and herbal hops.

Medium bodied and fairly smooth, not spectacular but easy and refreshing to drink with enough substance to work at either football or baseball tailgating season..
May 11, 2005
Photo of brewQ
Reviewed by brewQ from Missouri

3.13/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
This is not the beer Cokes rated two years ago. Since then it has been dummied down to serve the taste of KC Chiefs fans at the stadium.

A red brown color and a flat head (serves good at the game, I bet).
Just no flavor jumping out to me- malty or hoppy.

It just disappears with the first swallow.

I know this farmer owned brewery is working to add soy to their beers but this is not pleasant.
Feb 04, 2005
Photo of cokes
Reviewed by cokes from Wisconsin

4.03/5  rDev +17.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
This beer really surprised me. It poured a decent bronze body. Nothing too special. But the head retention was truely phenominal. The glorious off-white froth stuck around until the pint was gone.

Nice and malty. Chewy and caramelly, and quite British tasting. There is a definate ESB influence here.
The hops are there, but not too pushy. Nicely laid-back, slight citrus flavors drift on top of the malt. It all comes together really well. The mouthfeel is top notch as well, as it proves to be deliciously creamy and sublimely refreshing.
Nothing too flashy here, but still a very, very nice beer.
Feb 27, 2002
Pony Express Tornado Red Ale from Flying Monkey Brewing Company
Beer rating: 81 out of 100 with 18 ratings