Ravishing Red Irish Style Red
Mash House Restaurant & Brewery, The

 

 

 

 

Poured on-tap at The Mash House and served in a shaker pint, the beer is a toffee-amber coloring with a white halo of head. Nose of subtle caramel and roasted highlights. Very subtle. Flavors are heavily roasted, with a tangy caramel and nut sweetness, some floral highlights, and a subtle char characteristic. Well balanced on a smooth, mid-body feel. The aftertaste is richly sweet, almost tangy. The finish is slow and smooth, with a subtle sweet linger. Solid brew.

 

 

 

On tap at Tribeca Tavern in Raleigh

A - dark amber with a reddish hue; thick, soft, white head; good retention

S - faint bread

T - faint bread, grains, lightly toasty, hint of apples

M - medium bodied, smooth, good carbonation

This started a nice, lighter beer that went well with my meal. As the beer warmed though the grainy notes became more pronounced and offensive. Overall, it was good once, but I don't think I'll have it again.

 

Appearance: clear orange in color with a hint or reddish hoghlights.

Smell: some caramel sweetness is all that is detectable.

Taste: caramel, red apples, and a mild bitterness make up a mild irish red ale with minimal flavor.

Mouthfeel: lighter side of a medium bodied beer. Lightly crisp to start and smooth and a touch dry late. Aftertaste is almost clean.

Drinkability: easy to quaff but this becomes boring quickly. Not a favorite on my trip.

Six-pack purchased as Peace St. Market. Poured a crisp deep amber with a thin head that diminished to nothing. Aroma is dominated by sweet malts with some caramel and just a hint of hops. The taste has a large sweet malt flavor with a somewhat interesting undertoned hop blend, this beer reminded me a little of Duck Rabbit Amber. The beer was certainly light and crisp, it's just nothing that I would seek out again.

I picked up a growler of this tonight and I'm glad I did. This was really good. It poured a nice ruby red. It had about an inch tall white head. Not much lacing but a bit. The beer has a nice, crisp taste. It is incredibly smooth and feels great in the mouth. Will be finishing the growler in one more pint so obviously the drinkability is good!

Many thanks to oberon for providing this bottle. Noisy fizzing light tan head sits atop a crystalline orange-bronze body, which seems a bit light in color for the style. Perfumey tangerine scents, with faint whiffs of fusel alcohol; astringent and somewhat "chemical" soapy and vegetal aromas. Less than appetizing. The taste is (fortunately) much milder in character, with some mild bergamot tea hop flavors that bring a persistent mineral twang along for the ride, finishing with a marmelade-slathered English muffin bready malt flavor. Light body, juicy and overall smooth mouthfeel. A serviceable Irish red, but nothing I'll return to any time soon.

appearance: The low, off white head soon recedes to leave a ring around the glass. The beer is a medium amber in color.

smell: Aromas of bready grain and caramel upfront, with some estery notes of banana bread. The sweetness is moderate, and of toasted grain. Low hop aroma.

mouthfeel: The carbonation is medium, and the body a light medium.


taste: The flavor is lightly sweet and bready with big notes of caramel malt and some toasted malt flavors. Light esters are present. The hop flavor is low and the bitterness light, and lingering into the finish.

drinkability: quite easy

enjoyed on the back patio at the brewpub

I had the good fortune of being in Fayetteville for business, and hotelled right next door to the Mash House. Figured since I was there, I try a few of their beers.

The Ravishing Red was the special the night of my first visit, so that's where I started. The beer that was delivered to my table was crystal clear, and a deep, deep copper. There was hardly any head to speak of... just a skiff of foam where the head used to be.

The aroma is faintly roasty, with just a tiny whiff of hop in the nose. The smell is dominated mostly by caramel and an odd cardamom (Pepsi Cola?) aroma. It isn't necessarily bad in the nose, and it isn't really distracting, it's just unexpected.

The initial taste is quite balanced between malt and hops. By that, I mean nothing stands out as being out of whack. But then, malt backbone doesn't quite seem to be there. There's not a great deal of hoppiness, but for a red, that's okay. What I do taste is that cardamom, again, which is not okay. I doubt they added cardamom to this, so what is causing this flavor? It gives the beer a sour, citrus, Lemon-In-Pepsi flavor (anyone remember the old Pepsi Free from the 80s? It's like that.), which is quite distracting. It doesn't quite ruin the beer, although it comes close. It does tend to mask almost all other flavors, trailing all the way through the aftertaste. The teasing aroma of roasted malt was apparently just that -- a tease. There's no roastiness to be found in the taste. In fact, that taste is... well... just not what you'd expect a red to be. Doubtless, some will love it. I didn't. I didn't hate it. I did finish it after all. But I didn't enjoy it all that much either.

Overall, I'd say what I'll remember about this beer is how it sets you up for disappointment. It's pleasing to the eye, and to the nose, but not to the tastebuds. I'm here in Fayetteville for two days, and you can bet this won't show up on my tab again. A shame, too, since I love a good Irish Red.

The beer arrived on the table crystal clear light amber with a white lasting head which laced the glass.

The aroma was lightly fruity and caramel aromas most notable. The malt actually outshined the fruity character and was mostly caramel.

The flavor was sweet and malty with caramel and a slight hop presence but a nice fruity presence.

The finish was sweet eventually going dry with lasting caramel into the afteraste. The body was medium and the beer very easy to drink. A bit overly sweet, more IBU would dry this puppy out.

On tap at the Brewpub. In the pub they just call it Irish Red. 5% ABV, 7 IBU.

On-tap at the 2004 Brewer's Jam in Knoxville TN. There was little head but that could be due to serving conditions. The color was a nice reddish-blond and the brew was very clear. The aroma was faintly malty but not much else. The flavor was dry and crisp, with slight fruitiness apparent at the end, with a hint of toffee and balancing hops. The beer was light overall but still tasty, a great lawnmower beer.

Pours a deep copper with a slight head,aromas of bread dough and light caramel dominate this brew.taste is hugely malty starts out dry and biscuity as it warms I notice a little more caramel sweetness even a note of brown sugar,I do not get the sour finish like many others have.It is light in the mouth a little watery but real easy to drink,not as bad as I thought it would be after reading other reviews.

Pours a deep amber with a smallish creamy white head. Not much in the way of aroma - sweet malt, that's about it. More maltiness on the palate, plus a lot of fruit - dark cherry, a bit of peach. The sweetness of the malt lingers very pleasantly. Decent body, maybe a little thin, but still pretty good mouthfeel. A decent red ale.