The Irish Redhead
Mick Duff's Brewing Company

On-tap in Moscow, coppery clear-ish pour with a cap of off-white head that laces the glass slightly. Malty, smooth, sweet, light bodied even for the abv...flashes of toffee, some earthy bitterness, pretty simple.

Taster at the Filling Station. Medium amber, small skin of head , nice silky head, lots of lacing. light malty aroma and taste, a bit dry. Best part is its appearance.

basic but good, ideal for mornings, hangovers, gloomy spring weather in this part of the world, and it was all of the above for me. lighter than many, more pure amber than any deeper red or chestnut tones, short and fading half inch of lazy white head on it from the tap, not sure why i expected it on nitro, but that was not the case at the brewery. the nose on this is slightly muted, a fresh baked thing to the grain, less sweet than anticipated, and with a subtle yeast thing, as english to me as it is irish, pretty well refined, minimally hopped, slight raisin richness in the middle, toasted, pleasant. the flavor has nice balance even without much from the hops, the yeast does a lot here, and this ends drier than most american red types. nice minerality to it, a warmth from the grain without sugar, biscuit, pie crust, those sorts of notes. light honey, almond, and toffee too, but its all just a flash in the middle. the water seems pure, the refinement is there, and i can see why this appears to be one of their more popular brews. right in the center of medium bodied, enough carbonation, and a very drinkable pint overall. nothing to write home about, but this is pint beer all day.

 

 

16oz glass at the brewpub - nice to see these out of season offerings available year-round.

This beer appears a murky, dark bronzed amber hue, with a very thin cap of pretty much just wispy off-white head, which leaves very little in the way of lace in the vicinity of the glass as things slowly abate.

It smells of bready, crackery pale malt, a hint of toasted caramel, muddled dark orchard fruit, a bit of wet ash, and weak earthy, leafy hops. The taste is semi-sweet, grainy caramel malt, a sodden white bread sweetness, more weird ashy notes, and a plain pome and citrus fruitiness.

The carbonation is quite low-key in its generic yet supportive frothiness, the body a solid middleweight, and mostly smooth, the fruitiness hardly capable of messing around here. It finishes on the sweet side, just, as the toasted malt and lingering fruit character deem it so.

A decent example of this maligned style (thank you, Diageo!), that, while not positioned to take over the beer world, can at least provide some simple satisfaction for a beer geek gone crossed the border in the dead heat of summer.