Retro Red Ale
Lone Peak Brewery

I do not know how this beer is retired considering I just pick this up at the brewery. Poured into a pint glass at 37 degrees. The off-white creamy head has good retention. The head tatted lacing on the glass as it dissipated slowly. The color of the beer is SRM 15 with excellent clarity. The beer has a lot of carbonation.

The initial aroma is floral and grapefruit. Additional aromas are caramel, crackers, yeast, earthy, and wood

The beer has a strong malt backbone that supports the hops profile. The flavors in the beer are floral, caramel, crackers earthy, wood, floral, grapefruit, and yeast.

The mouthfeel of the beer is astringent and crisp. The body of the beer is medium, medium carbonation, and a medium finish.

A standard amber ale with a supporting hop profile. The beer is well rounded and is well made. Good job!

 

Hoppy red ale with great balance

 

Poured from can into a pint glass

Appearance – The beer pours a lighter amber-red color with a billowy head of pure white foam. The head of the brew has a good level of retention, slowly fading to leave a good level of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma of the beer is heaviest of a dark fruit aroma with some cherry, plum, and raisin along with some bready aromas mixed within. A light hop smell consisting of a mix of pine, citrus, and earth is there as well giving a rather nice and somewhat sweet aroma overall.

Taste – The taste begins with a bready taste mixed with some flavors of caramel and a little bit of darker fruits of cherry and plum. As the taste advances the bready remains relatively constant, but the caramel seems to fade a bit with it being replaced by more dark fruit of cherry, raisin, and plum. All the while some hop flavors also develop on the tongue with both a citrus and grassy hop flavor coming to the tongue. A little bit of a brown sugar flavor as well as a light earthy taste comes at the very end, leaving a nice blend of bready, sweet fruit, and hop flavor to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is average in thickness and creaminess with a carbonation level that is on the average side as well. For the blend of hop, malt, and sweeter flavors of the brew, and in light of the lower abv. of the beer, the feel is fantastic, making for a more refreshing and crisp brew, but yet still upholding the flavors of the beer quite well.

Overall - For an only 4.5 % abv. brew this one packs in a great blend of hop and flavor and makes for one fantastic and easy drinking but yet quite delicious and rich flavorful brew. This is one I hope they continue to make in the future.

 

 

I'm reviewing this beer from notes. A friend offered me this and kindly furnished me with a pencil and scrap of paper- how retro! Anyway, apparently this is an anniversary beer, brewed in the Fall of 2013, for the Big Sky ski resort, and only sold at their establishments and at selected draft dispensaries, and for a short time only. I can find very little information on this beer- the brewery's website doesn't even mention it, at least not anymore. I did find a random site mentioning the ABV as 4.5%, which I did not find out in time before adding it.

Poured from a can into an imperial pint Guinness glass. A moderate pour produces about 1.5 inches of fluffy, white, sticky head. The beer is a medium dark brown with some haze.

It's relatively hoppy, with plenty of citrus and pine aroma-flavors along with some mineral tang and a slight bit of a "seaweed" taste, which is only mildly off-putting. Some molasses-like malt flavors provide the backbone. Fairly dry finish with some lingering bitterness.

This beer is easy enough to drink, but nothing too special. It goes without saying that I probably won't be trying this again (since they apparently won't brew it anymore).