Crimson Lager
Clemson Bros. Brewery at The Gilded Otter

As the previous reviews now the major shortcoming of this beer is feel, and I totally agree. In fact, it's a negative: thin, hollow, uninspiring. What flavor that is able to trail with it is the stereotypical otter malt mix: bready crusts drizzled with caramel; indistinguishable herbal hops. Color is more of a 'rustic' copper.

 

 

 

First had: on tap at their brewpub

A clear golden brown beer with a small cap of foamy white head. Simple aroma, lightly toasted grains, and crisp floral hops. Taste was bread, grains, lightly toasted, leafy, lightly hopped, with a bitterness that lasted into the aftertaste; mildly metallic. Light body, fairly drinkable--the sampler went down like a shot anyway--but overall, really not something I'd ever need to revisit.

A hazy reddish brown beer; definitely not crimson. Smallish head settles down quickly; some decent lace sticks to the glass. Very mild aroma is mostly caramel malt; just a touch of floral hoppiness detected.

Flavor is a bit more vivid-but just barely. Again there is a hint of floral hops but mostly sweet caramel maltiness and some toffee and brown sugar notes. But I'm overstating this, really..its pretty bland overall.

The body is thin and carbonation is moderate; feels less crisp and clean than the style calls for. Pretty undistinguished.

 

 

Draft at the brewpub. Malty aroma. Amber colour and later leaving lace, malty aroma. Drinkable and about right for the style.Carbonation suitable, and caramel, middling mouthfeel. Now this is a transition beer, though run-of-the-mill for geeks, let's see what has hops.

Brought down to PA in a growler by a buddy:

A - As others have said; crimson? no...reddish brown? yes. Pours with a thin cream colored head with little retention and moderate lacing

S - A bit thin in the nose - caramel malts, brown sugar and a whiff of some herbal/grassy hops

T&M - Medium bodied and malt forward. Huge caramel and toffee roasted malt flavors, also just a bit of butterscotch. Hop presence barely felt (style appropriate), carbonation feels light. Finish is slightly sweet, with a light bitterness at the very end.

D - Not bad - a decent amber lager with a huge malt backbone, bonus points for session status, but a bit on the sweet malt side for me to have more then one or two.

Crimson? Well, not really. But, it's a rather nice hue. Pours red-amber, moderate translucency with a shortish creamy head, good lacing. Good carbonation, as well. Smell was a bit weak, was hard to detect much besides hints of malts and hops. Taste was much better with a good hefty mix of toasted caramel malts, hops, and alcohol. Rather bitter for the style. Mouthfeel was very lingering, mainly the bitterness waiting on your tongue for something to wash it away. Overall, it was decent.

Crimson? Well if you say so. Looked more like an amber color than anything. But nevertheless it did look good. Smell wasn't all there. Some malts in there but it was hard to detect anything quite honestly. Taste made up for it though. Caramel, some toffee/butterscotch and malts all combine and blend in well together. The malts seem to get more complex the more you sip this brew. Not a bad beer by any stretch, but just smell this beer because there's nothing to whiff at.

The second of my two brews with lunch today. The beer comes chilled in a flute glass and exudes a rich amber color with some slight cloudiness. A 1 cm beige head floats lazily on the top of the beer and fades very slowly. Aroma is super mild, I get a bit of caramel mixed with some floral hops. First sip reveals average body and average carbonation that rolls through the swallow.
Flavor is caramel and toffee sweet up front at frist and even a small hint of roasted malt present. This all quickly is overwhelmed by a grassy hop bite that dominates the finish and lingers in my mouth. This is a crisp refreshing brew that went well with my pulled pork sandwich and fries. A good brew for a nice May day!

I wouldn't call this beer crimson, but it is pretty. Given its crystalline, reddish-brown appearance I don't think I've seen a brew more deserving of the term "amber". The pint came with a creamy, small head which left a nice thin sheet of lacing on the glass which reminded me of suds sheeting down the window at a car wash. The scent is almost nonexistent; I had to practically snort some in order to smell it at all, and even then I couldn't be sure if I was smelling malt or hops!

This beer doesn't truly hit its stride until it hits your tonge. The overall mouthfeel is crisp and snappy, and the taste ranges between woody and nutty. The first wave is somewhat woody, but at this point the taste is secondary to the crisp bracing sensation. After that the hops jump into the mix. The transition is abrupt, but is so pleasingly tingly that it's completely welcome.

By the time I got to the end of the glass I had come to truly admire this beer's mouthfeel. The initial bracing and unfocused wave expands to fill my mouth and then changes to bitterness as it coalesces into a ring around my tongue. Then that ring contracts onto the center of my tongue, transforming into the focused, hoppy zip which dominates the slow finish. The overall effect is immensely refreshing. I could spend a long time drinking these, especially if I had some food like the delicious burger I ordered along with this pint.