Royal Oak Red
Royal Oak Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This brew was served from the tap at Royal Oak Brewery in Royal Oak, Michigan. It arrived in a generic pint glass, glowing the color of raspberry iced tea. No real head was noted, with no more than a light film across the top of the liquid. A chill haze permeated the clarity, with no sediment noted. Carbonation appeared to be average. The aroma gave richly roasted amber and lightly caramel malts, grassy hops, metallic molasses, soy sauce, light char, sweat, wetted dog fur, cherry sweetness, and more of a butterscotch sweetness with warmth. Our first impression was that the flavoring was very malt forward, with moderately robust hops of soapy and grassy varietals. As we sipped, the taste opened with those rich aromatic red malts, sea saltiness, metallics, roasty caramel, and syrupy pear sweetness. Moving to the middle was sweetness of nectary and floral hops, honeysuckle, more bitter grassy hops, waxiness, chalk, and foamy bite. The end came with light banana esters, phenolic plastics, apple and strawberry fruitiness, porter maltiness, toffee, and anise spiciness. The aftertaste breathed of copper, red and amber malts, white flour, black pepper, clovey phenols, syrupy caramels, soy sauce, and biscuity, buttery grain. The body was medium, and the carbonation was medium. Each sip gave syrupy stickiness to the lips, with good pop, slurp, and glug. Froth and cream were a bit lacking, but the mouth was otherwise left lightly dried and mildly cooled. The abv was appropriate, and the beer drank as more of a sipper.

Overall, what we enjoyed most about this beer was the variety of hops throughout, and the depth of malts to include not only reds and ambers, but more caramels, and what seemed to be smoky porter malts on the far back. This offered a nice blend for the flavoring, keeping the palate interested. The nose was interestingly complex as well, helping to uphold that interplay between the thick aromas and the sips. The mouth, on the other hand, was a bit heavy, and ultimately took away from the ease of drinkability and the refreshment side of the beer. This was an acceptable house red, but we would have liked a bit more hop balance, making it not only a bit more seasonally appropriate, but much more approachable all year round.

 

 

 

Maybe it was the lighting, but this beer was very very dark. It looked like a pint of watery blood.

Smell was sweet and roasted. Taste was similar, the roasted flavors were a lot like nuts, and it had a smooth caramel flavor as well. Bitterness was decent, but got stronger as you continue to drink.

This beer is very smooth. Carbonation seemed just right.

A great beer, but I can only have one as the bitterness eventually leaves a slight aftertaste making me want something else.

I got a growler from the brewery this weekend. I shared it with my beer-snob uncle. He said it was one of the best reds he's ever tasted. I agreed. It has a rich carmel flavor. Smooth and dark. Only slightly lighter in color than a brown beer bottle. A nice easy drinking 6.2% alcohol brew. I'll get another growler next tuesday when they're only $5.00. Best beer deal in Royal Oak.

deep deep burgundy/brown with zero head. caramel and campfire aromas rise strongly out of the glass, along with noticable hop scents. strong herbal tea flavors, along with caramel that's been burnt to a crisp, sweet malts, a ton of dry hops. quite the confection. a little thin in the mouth, with a near total absence of carbonation. very dry finish.

on tap at the brewery, poured a typical amber with a very small head. aroma, caramel, malts a nice roastedness, sugar. flavor malt, caramel, some hhints of hops. nothing special about this beer,would have like the flavor be a little more robust a middle of the road beer