Hook & Ladder Pipe & Drum Irish Ale
Hook & Ladder Brewing Company (No. 2)

 

 

 

 

Reviewed from notes.

Served in a tulip glass. Pours a reddish-amber color with a nice off-white head. Not much lacing and the retention is a bit weak. The nose is caramel, toffee, and some light bread. The taste is bready with a touch of caramel and sweetness. Nice body to support the flavors. Drinks well enough, but not terribly interesting.

From a 12 oz. twist off bottle, this brew pours a clear golden amber with a half inch of soapy off white foam. Reducing to a surface cap in a couple minutes, the pour yields some light lacing and keeps a light surface ring.

Nose is somewhat light all around, with some clean caramel malt notes, lightly toasted, and a touch of earthy hops. Somewhat light in color and depth for the style.

Taste follows the nose with a light caramel sense. Clean and crisp with a moderate level of carbonation but a bit light in flavor for the style, though not quite watery in nature. Bit of brown sugar/peppery spice/toasted grain on the finish. Rather drinkable for the style given the moderately light body, though carbonation loss might be a concern if you're in no hurry to finish the glass.

Note: 5.1% ABV and viewed as an Irish Red Ale in style.

12 oz bottle poured into a Sierra Nevada Imperial Pint. 19009 printed on the neck with some other numbers. Possible date? No other info.

A - Clear light amber-orange with a big two-finger bone-colored head. Moderate-low retention but it left some nice, dainty lace behind.

S - Light hops on the nose gracefully blended with sweet malts. The malts have a touch of butterscotch to them while the hops are a bit herbal.

T - A tiny kiss of the butterscotch comes through with the malts but the hops are much larger in the flavor. Floral and dry with a crisp finish and light bitterness.

M - A lingering sweetness gives the beer a bit of body despite it being light. It also resides behind the crisp, dry feel of the hops. It's somewhat soft on the tongue as well.

D - Pipe & Drum is definitely one of the better beers to come out of Hook & Ladder. It's got more flavor and balance than all of their others but is still around mediocre. A great session beer though. Grab a six-er for St. Patty's Day and it'll be gone before you can even attempt a bad Irish accent.

Part of a mixed 12er for $7.97 at World Market, figured at that price it was worth a try.

Pours a bright and clear amber color with a pretty faint off white head.

Aromas are faint, light brewed tea, and some toffee like sweetness.

Taste is similar to the nose, light brewed tea like malts, some subtle sweetness, toffee, caramel, nuts and biscuits. Finish is dry, with some earthy hops flavors. Decent tasting beer.

Mouthfeel is not bad, decent carbonation, but an overall thinness that sets it back a bit.

Drinkabilty is good. If the rest of the box is full of beers like this, then the money will be well spent. This is a pretty decent sessionable Irish Red Style beer.

Had it on tap at upick6 in Erie P.A. I was surprised with the malty taste and mouth feel, almost like an American Brown, but was a good beer none the less. Some sweetness and a light nutty/hoppy finish, not quite a typical Irish, Caramel, roasted notes. I need to find more of this so I can figure out what some of these flavours are. Can't find 6 packs or cases, just available in the sampler with the Light, Golden, Backdraft Brown. Im thinking it must be better on-tap, from looking at some of these other reviews, because this was a good beer.

This is a pleasant, decent beer, but very simple, rather sweet, and quite vague in character.

Copper, it has a medium off-white head quickly thinning to a thin foamy ring that continues to leave brief wisps of foam on the glass.

Aroma is caramelly grain, bread crust, leaf. It's thin, very light, simple.

Taste is light toastiness, vague fruitiness with light caramelly sweetness and grain hint. It's light, simple.

I had this beer tonight at a place that has a firehouse theme going. I had never heard of it before but I thought why not.

A - appeared to be flat, no head. (wasn't flat but still)

S - I was unable to detect anything. Nothing really.

T - Decent amber ale taste. Seemed decent but not great.

M - Somewhat dry but not very much at all. I'm sure you can quite a few of these and everything will be fine.

D - Goes down ok. Not that great of a beer but it was nice to my steak.

Why the label says Irish Ale is not clear to me. It is more of an American amber ale than anything. I guess it may sell better as long as you add some foreign name/description.

Bottle poured into a shaker glass. 7/2/09 from notes.

A- Very deep amber with dark red highlights. About a one finger off-white head that left great lacing throught the glass. Very tiny carbination bubbles present.

S- Pretty mild caramel malty aroma.

T- Litle hints of caramel and almost roasted leafy veggies.

M- Medium bodied, stickier than I expected.

D- Very sessionable. Picked this up as a single but I'll definitely be getting more!

12 oz bottle poured into a pilsner - fridge - 2009

Appearance: Pours a transparent copper, caramel colored ale with ruby and orange highlights. The head rises 2.5" tall with it's ivory color. Great retention is shown and lots of foamy lace coats the glass. Superb.

Smell: Caramel is the strongest aroma, and is noticeable once the cap is popped. Nougat, almond and butter pecan swirl around with strong sweetness. All malt, with little hop aroma.

Taste: Just as the nose indicated, a malt presence jumps out with caramel and nougat. Very Milky-Way-Esque. Almond, granola, raisin and toffee make up a stellar malt taste. A small bite of hop bitterness balances (somewhat) the brew. A touch of alcohol in the finish. Excellent flavor.

Mouthfeel: Sweet, succulent, smooth and satisfying. Complex in aroma and taste. A buttery finish mingles with a dry hop bite.

Drinkability: More than I could have expected from an Irish Ale and an unknown brewery. Superb.

Thick, amost white head after an aggressive pour. Amost rockey, leaving some thick lacing behind. Copper in hue and clear, clean looking.
Nose is heavy in caramel sweetness, husky and grainy. Taste is sweet and somewhat heavy, but not as thick as I would have expected in a Read Ale.
Nice, medium mouthfeel.
A good, drinkable beer.

This is my first beer from the Hook and Ladder Brewery and I have little qualms with this one. I poured it into a pint glass, the head didn't stick around more than five seconds. I can definitely taste the malts, with a hint of caramel as I gulp it down. Very smoothe red ale. I am looking forward to trying the rest of my variety pack after having this one to start things off.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance: It has a deep dark amber colored body with good clarity. The head is small and fades out quickly leaving no lacing behind.

Smell: The aroma is light with some light hints of sweet caramel malts.

Taste/Mouth feel: The overall flavor has a mild sweet malty character with a touch of caramel and some light spicy/leafy hops for balance. The hops come in more towards the finish of this medium bodied brew. The mouth feel is well rounded, smooth with a light balance of carbonation.

Notes: Overall this is a nice average beer.

Pours a clear reddish copper color with about two fingers of creamy light beige head. Head is pretty dense and retention is decent; it keeps a very thin but mostly full lace, but also leaves some very nice rings of stick as it falls.

Smells of some sweet caramel malt and toasted grain, with a bit of grassy hops as well. Clean and straightforward, if slightly weak.

Taste is primarily grainy, slightly toasty but lacking a bit in terms of sweetness. The graininess is a bit too much, making it slightly astringent and harsh. I'd like a bit more caramel which would provide some much needed balance. There is some grassy, bitter hops here as well but what is really needed is some caramel malt sweetness.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a good level of carbonation. It's lacking in smoothness owing to the grainy, astringent bite, however.

This is a pretty mediocre beer. Just too grainy and in need of some more malt sweetness to provide some balance. Not something I'll be coming back to.

Lighly chilled and pourned into a pint glass. Glass of cold water on the side to sip from periodically.

Appearance: Pours reddish brown with ¼" light tan head that fades quickly. Sipping leaves spotty lacing.

Smell: Aroma is mild malt with faint hint of hops.

Taste: Lightly roasted sweet caramel malt but very one dimensional.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with light carbonation and slightly creamy carbonation. The finish is medium long with traces of malt and hops.

Drinkability: This was nothing special in the way of drinkability, which in this case means I could have had more or I could have switched and not been unhappy either way.

Poured from a 12-ounce bottle into a SA pint glass.

A: Poured a deep copper color with reddish highlights and a sticky head of white foam which left a decent ring of lace.

S: Smell is sweet and malty, with a bit of a buttery aroma over some sweet roasted caramel malts and a slightly herbal/floral hop bitterness.

T: Taste is a bit more mute than the smell, but it's a slightly bitterwseet and fruity ale with deep roasted malts which lend a bit of sweet smokiness to the brew. Hop bittering is mild and more fruity than anything else. All the flavors are slightly more watery than expected, but still pretty good.

M: Mouthfeel is slightly sticky and medium bodied but still rather palatable.

D: A decent brew and not that bad of a red ale. A session brew for sure that tasted good on its own as well as a pairing to my fried turkey.

This isn't the greatest Irish red you'll get your hands on, but it is quite tasty. Not too flashy in any given area, but it went down very smooth and was gone before I knew it. Definitely worth a shot.

Another HooknLadder from the variety pack.

Pours a rich wood brown, with a thin little head.

Very much malt forward aroma. Goetting some roasty dry peat and woody aromas.

Taste is definilty malt forward with a bit of a burnt/caramelized sugar in there. I am however getting some metallic twang that isn't too enjoyable. Mouthfeel is a tad thin and watery, especially for a beer of this color. It had a lot of promise.