John Thomas Red
Manchester Brewing, LLC

 

Pours amber-red with a decent beige foamy head. A ring of retention. No true lace. Good clarity, nice color.

Some dry grain aromas and a hint of fruit. Wanted more here early on, but as it warmed in the glass, I got some candy and boozy cherry aromas.

Big surprise in the flavor. This drinks like an American Strong Ale. Big toasted graain and boozy stone fruit flavor right up front. This leads to lingering fruit then a long long bitter drying finish. Some medicinal-herbal notes as well. No ABV listed, but this tastes boozy, almost in a bourbon-barrel sense. Any candied elements get immediately smacked by bitter. Great great balance, coming from a big-flavored punch in the mouth.

This is fuller-bodied, with appropriate carbonation. As you swallow the last bit of your sip, the remainder coats your mouth then dries. Nice.

Overall, this was frickin' great. Not super-easy drinking, but very delicious and drinkable. $3.99 bomber is a steal. I've never seen this anywhere, but will hunt it down again.

pours a purple/mahogany copper with a decent off-white head that retains and laces ok.

aroma is strongly caramel based. some butterscotch and light molasses scents and herbal hops are there too, but caramel dominates.

taste follows and is heavy in the caramel. herbal hops back that up a bit, but don't quite work their way to the forefront as they disappear as quickly as they appeared. molasses, caramel toast and nutty flavors add a bit as well.

medium bodied with good carbonation. has a stickiness that lingers like as if you swallowed a spoonful of molasses. sweetness lingers as well.

drinks easily. on the malty end of the amber/red beer spectrum. would enjoy more hops, but thats just me. Its ok for what it is.

Recommended by Bert from Bert's beers.

Thin beige head that was quick to fizzle out. Any sign of foam is completely gone by the halfway mark. A rusty red when held to light otherwise it's more of a translucent brown.

Toasty malt vs. caramel sweet with sherry-like fruit esters and candy peach ring. Taste is a heavy caramel presence over those same fruit esters and toasted malt. Pine hop depth and obvious mineral character. Overcarbonated IMO. Somewhat barleywine-esque. A light barleywine?

Good pick. If Manchester gets the color and retention down this could be great.

From the bottle, "Dedicated to the British Star of Stage and Screen, and to the young lady in all of us."

Pours immediately out of the bottle in the form of a frothing head, caught me off guard but hardly lost anything, color is a dark coppery red, huge amount of head but fades decently and leaves a good amount of patchy lacing.

The aroma is quite strong, a nice caramel malt backing with a surprising amount of hops and a dash of citrus, more than I thought would be present.

Taste is a nice meld of caramel malt with a hoppy aftertaste, neither part is overwhelming, carbonation is less active than when I opened it and is just right.

This one is quite surprising, probably one of the better red ales I've had in a long while. It's not a style that's usually gets high scores.

Poured from a 22oz bottle into a mug glass.

A: The beer is a deep coppery brown color, with a large off-white head that fades slowly and leaves a spotty lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is of caramelized malts, some fruit and a touch of hops but it's also a bit metallic.

T: The taste out bready with a bit of a buttery flavor to it. Then a caramel and citrus sweetness comes in along with a hearty malt character. There's also a touch of spice in the background. The hop presence is mild but complementary. The after-taste is slightly bready and slightly sweet.

M: Crisp and smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is slightly sticky.

D: Tasty, goes down easily, not too filling, decent kick, good representation of style, it's a solid beer but there are others in the style that I would select first.

Pours a dark ruby red color with a one-finger head into my glass. Good presentation here and looks tasty.

Aroma is full of floral hops with sweet malt underneath that has a hint of caramel.

Grassy hops stand out followed by sweet, chewy malt that coats the mouth. Seems simple and thirst-quenching.

Mouthfeel is full of lingering sweet malt. Nothing harsh here. Simply a red ale like red ales should be.

First time I've heard of this brewery and it's a decent red ale that is nice and drinkable. Won't knock your socks off but certainly for a fan of amber ales.

Tight bubbled, but modest head--lasting. Brown color and cloudy. Light shines through. Surprisingly, there is little head.

Malty and slightly sweet. Strong crystal smell. Mild alcohol warmth in the background.

Interesting blend of bittering hop and a low-level sweetness. Reminds me of an over-hopped barley wine--definite alcohol warmth in the swallow and aftertaste. Rich body with an appropriate level of carbonation for the style. High marks for the originality and the complexity. This is one of the more complicated Amber's I've had.

22oz bomber from Beverage King in West Lebanon, NH. Picked this up the other night when it was still in a box on the floor, not even on the shelf yet. Really glad to see Manchester Brewing available so close to home.

Poured into a chilled pint glass. Thick tan 3-finger head has decent retention, settles to a quarter inch, on top of a cloudy reddish brown brew. Minimal lacing.

Fragrant, well-balanced aroma of caramel malt and hops. Sweetness with a lot of depth... caramel and molassas. Silage, butterscotch, yeast, banana, slight spicey note.

Taste is similar overall, but with a prominent roasted/ smoke aspect that wasn't detected in the nose. Strong raw grain/ silage character. Burnt sugars, vanilla, toffee, coffee, bitter chocolate. Good hoppy bite but I can't pick it apart on account of the other things going on. By taste alone I would've guessed it was a lighter quad, but also has porter-ish qualities. Much darker and drier than I was expecting from the nose.

Mouthfeel is well balanced. Viscous, slick on the tongue, dry finish with a bit of alcohol apparent. I'd put it at 6-7% ABV but wouldn't be too surprised if it's higher. Drinkability is good as well.

Overall very impressed. Not a very typical red ale, but surprising in ways wholly compatible with my personal tastes.

Starts with a malty nose with a moderate nutty/toffee aroma, low/no hop aroma, SRM22 (brown) toasted malt flavor, moderate sweetness, grain/bready towards finish, low hop bitterness, a clean medium dry finish, short off white head dissipates quickly, moderate mouthfeel/carbonation, some warmth from alcohol noted as beer warmed. Very drinkable.

Pours a two-finger cream head that fades slowly leaving some lace. Cloudy red/amber color. Good carbonation and medium bodied. Piney nose. Flavor is caramel malts with a hoppy backbone. Lingering light hoppy aftertaste. $4.99 for a 22oz bottle from The Meat House Pembroke, NH.

From the 1 pt. 6 fl. oz. bottle with no lot code or expiration date. Sampled on June 28, 2009. The pour is an amber-red with marginal clarity but a nice beige head that remains for the full sampling. The beige lacing glistens on the side of the pint glass. The aroma is darker malts with a some hops in the background but not very sweet. Medium mouthfeel and the sip stays together for a period of time on the tongue. The taste is akin to a strong ale rather thab a red with a bitter and odoriferous as the balance of dark malts and hops burn a bit on the back of my throat but not in a bad way (mind you). It feels like a higher ABV. There is an aftertaste but it reminds you of a positive drinking experience.

A friend of mine was gracious enough to bring over a few bottles of this to share with me and my wife. Apparently some humorous quip slipped my attention, but my wife and friend were having a lot of fun sampling this beer. My friend obviously liked it, because he kept making this odd, up-and-down hand motion, saying, "You just can't beat this John Thomas." My wife apparently appreciated the oversized 22 oz bottle, because she kept telling my friend, "I just love your big fat John Thomas! It's hot!" That's odd - the beer seemed well-chilled to me. For some reason, my friend and wife left the room for about twenty minutes. Whatever. I just stayed behind and enjoyed the beer. They returned laughing, and my wife said, "If your John Thomas wasn't red, it sure is now!" Well, that's just silly - beer can't change color. Anyway, I enjoyed the beer, and I'm grateful that my friend likes to share.

22oz bomber from McKinnon's in Salem, NH. Pours a murky nearly opaque reddish-brown (mostly brown) body with nearly an inch of short-lived light tan head. A dry roasty chocolate initially presents in the aroma with bits of a sweet maltiness and a hint of grassy hops. Sweet maltiness and a roasty dark chocolate equally share parts of the flavor, with the taste of leafy grassy hops adding a slight astringency toward the finish. Medium in both body and carbonation. Drinkable enough, but doesn't disappear as quickly as some in the style might. Not a bad American red, though it definitely hints at a brown ale. Robust but balanced. A solid brew from a solid local brewery.

This is a pretty good beer and, as previously noted, one of the hoppier red ales you'll encounter. It is a red/brown color, with an (to me) off-putting haze. A medium tan head. Sweet malt and fruit in the aroma. Same thing in the taste, when Blam!, the hops hit, a nice bitter hit. Medium in body. A beer I'll drink anytime.

One of the hoppier reds I've ever tasted. Ranks close to an IPA with bitterness. Found this gem at a small time deli in Hampton Falls New Hampshire. Hope to see this brewery gain wider distinrution. Love the Monty Python theme, and love this ale. Probably my favorite Manchester brewing as well.

Pours a deep dark amber, almost brown color with a fluffy off white head that sticks around for a little while. Smells of toffee and brown sugar, some spicy yeast and floral hops hidden underneath. Taste is hops up front some sweet malts that produce some toffee and brown sugar. Bit of a yeast bite in the finish. Carbonation is crisp, mouthfeel is lightly creamy, body is medium to full. This is nice red ale. Probably my favorite brew from Manchester thus far.