Thomas Creek River Falls Red Ale | Thomas Creek Brewery
Brewed by:
Thomas Creek Brewery
South Carolina, United States
thomascreekbeer.com
Style: Irish Red Ale
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 5.65%
Availability: Year-round
Notes / Commercial Description:
21 IBU
Added by John on 12-18-2002
HISTOGRAM
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Ratings: 225 | Reviews: 68
Reviews by Arithmeticus:
3.68/5 rDev +2.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Had on draft at Carolina Ale House in Greenville SC
A: copper; thin head; clear, good lacing
S: thin, slightly malty aroma; the smell might have dissipated in the time taken from draft to table service
T: sophisticated red ale; dry; not sweet; complex hop profile; not boozy
M: silky, smooth
Solid red ale, good meal beer
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look: 3.75 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Had on draft at Carolina Ale House in Greenville SC
A: copper; thin head; clear, good lacing
S: thin, slightly malty aroma; the smell might have dissipated in the time taken from draft to table service
T: sophisticated red ale; dry; not sweet; complex hop profile; not boozy
M: silky, smooth
Solid red ale, good meal beer
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More User Reviews:
4/5 rDev +11.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Review from BeerAdvocate magazine Issue #26:
Reddish brassy color, crystal clear with a decent amount of foam on top. A little toffeeish and hoppy in the nose with a more firm grip coming from the bready malt. Smooth, with a fluffy, moderate-sized body--exactly what you are looking for with Irish Reds. Maltiness bounces from caramel sweetness to biscuity graininess, and stays clean throughout. Hops are dialed in just enough to balance with the bitterness and add some character with a mild herbal/citric flavor. Maltiness lasts, which is nice to see, as many of the mass-produced Irish Reds seem to drop out with an immaculate aftertaste. A vague fruitiness is present middle to end; finishes with a light sweetness.
Right on target here, it's a style in which you don't want massive complexities clinging on the palate or flexed flavors bursting at the seams. Balanced and very drinkable--not a flaw showing.
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look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Review from BeerAdvocate magazine Issue #26:
Reddish brassy color, crystal clear with a decent amount of foam on top. A little toffeeish and hoppy in the nose with a more firm grip coming from the bready malt. Smooth, with a fluffy, moderate-sized body--exactly what you are looking for with Irish Reds. Maltiness bounces from caramel sweetness to biscuity graininess, and stays clean throughout. Hops are dialed in just enough to balance with the bitterness and add some character with a mild herbal/citric flavor. Maltiness lasts, which is nice to see, as many of the mass-produced Irish Reds seem to drop out with an immaculate aftertaste. A vague fruitiness is present middle to end; finishes with a light sweetness.
Right on target here, it's a style in which you don't want massive complexities clinging on the palate or flexed flavors bursting at the seams. Balanced and very drinkable--not a flaw showing.
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3.21/5 rDev -10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Label on the bottle says "River Falls Red Ale". Pours a mostly clear, copper/orange body with a medium beige head. Good retention and plenty of patchy lacing on the glass. Restrained aroma has hints of toasted caramel and vague hops. Light medium body has medium carbonation. Taste is malty, mostly caramel, but not overly sweet. Hop bitterness is restrained but balances well. A nice red ale that goes down well. Unassuming, but nicely put together with no obvious flaws.
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look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Label on the bottle says "River Falls Red Ale". Pours a mostly clear, copper/orange body with a medium beige head. Good retention and plenty of patchy lacing on the glass. Restrained aroma has hints of toasted caramel and vague hops. Light medium body has medium carbonation. Taste is malty, mostly caramel, but not overly sweet. Hop bitterness is restrained but balances well. A nice red ale that goes down well. Unassuming, but nicely put together with no obvious flaws.
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3.51/5 rDev -2.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
12 oz bottle in pint glass
red-orange tinted dark amber; crystal clear with short-lived and smallish white head
Aroma - a rather unimpressive toasted malt and cereal with hints of dark fruit
T - toasted malt; neither complex nor bold. Noticeably and nicely bitter [IBU = 21], but seems too sour.
M - Light-medium bodied; moderate carbonation; quite smooth
D - a pleasant red ale for sure, but too plain and subtle to generate much interest.
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look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
12 oz bottle in pint glass
red-orange tinted dark amber; crystal clear with short-lived and smallish white head
Aroma - a rather unimpressive toasted malt and cereal with hints of dark fruit
T - toasted malt; neither complex nor bold. Noticeably and nicely bitter [IBU = 21], but seems too sour.
M - Light-medium bodied; moderate carbonation; quite smooth
D - a pleasant red ale for sure, but too plain and subtle to generate much interest.
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3.83/5 rDev +6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
This slightly hazy, deep-amber ale has a wonderful, creamy, off-white head that holds quite well and leaves some very nice lace about the glass. It's malty and sweet in the nose with a hint of yeasty fruitiness. Thin streams of steadily rising bubbles reveal its moderate carbonation; and it's smooth and creamy in the mouth with a dextrinous, medium body. Sweetish, caramel and toffee-like malt dominates the flavor, which is laced with floral and delicately citrusy hops, and backed by a firm bitterness. A basic, approachable and drinkable beer!
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look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
This slightly hazy, deep-amber ale has a wonderful, creamy, off-white head that holds quite well and leaves some very nice lace about the glass. It's malty and sweet in the nose with a hint of yeasty fruitiness. Thin streams of steadily rising bubbles reveal its moderate carbonation; and it's smooth and creamy in the mouth with a dextrinous, medium body. Sweetish, caramel and toffee-like malt dominates the flavor, which is laced with floral and delicately citrusy hops, and backed by a firm bitterness. A basic, approachable and drinkable beer!
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3.91/5 rDev +8.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This is my first review in many years...when I originally joined I was a casualty of the economic down turn....very happy to be back...
First off....the bottle of Thomas Creek River Falls Red Ale I am drinking from says it is 6.2 % abv...maybe the recipe has changed since the original was introduced...
This is a very balanced beer.
Open the bottle and a very light sweet scent of malt is present--only a small bit above subtle...
First sip is not that of many American Reds-malt, caramel then a boat load of bitterness...but rather sweet apple (pink lady or maybe gala) and nicely ripped pear. As I continue to take a few sips, the sweet-but light-malt sweetness comes through. There is enough bitterness to balance it out but I did not actually notice any bitterness until close to the end of the first bottle-which I did welcome. The second bottle I noticed a more prevalent array of malt and caramel sweetness accompanied by the bitterness, which is the trend that continued into the last bottle of the six pack-...what did you expect?-I never start a six pack w/o finishing all six.
I have had this beer several times-bottles and draft- and proud to rejoin this community with a winner:
Thomas Creek River Falls Red Ale is a really good beer...
solid 4 out of 5
1,268 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This is my first review in many years...when I originally joined I was a casualty of the economic down turn....very happy to be back...
First off....the bottle of Thomas Creek River Falls Red Ale I am drinking from says it is 6.2 % abv...maybe the recipe has changed since the original was introduced...
This is a very balanced beer.
Open the bottle and a very light sweet scent of malt is present--only a small bit above subtle...
First sip is not that of many American Reds-malt, caramel then a boat load of bitterness...but rather sweet apple (pink lady or maybe gala) and nicely ripped pear. As I continue to take a few sips, the sweet-but light-malt sweetness comes through. There is enough bitterness to balance it out but I did not actually notice any bitterness until close to the end of the first bottle-which I did welcome. The second bottle I noticed a more prevalent array of malt and caramel sweetness accompanied by the bitterness, which is the trend that continued into the last bottle of the six pack-...what did you expect?-I never start a six pack w/o finishing all six.
I have had this beer several times-bottles and draft- and proud to rejoin this community with a winner:
Thomas Creek River Falls Red Ale is a really good beer...
solid 4 out of 5
1,268 characters
4.42/5 rDev +22.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Poured from the tap into a pint glass at the Thomas Creek brewery in Greenville, SC. The appearance is a reddish orange color with a small white head. The aroma is slight malt and grains. The taste is toasted malt and is slightly bitter.
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look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Poured from the tap into a pint glass at the Thomas Creek brewery in Greenville, SC. The appearance is a reddish orange color with a small white head. The aroma is slight malt and grains. The taste is toasted malt and is slightly bitter.
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3.24/5 rDev -10%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
3.71/5 rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.6/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Pours an amber-brown with a decent head.
Aroma is mostly malt, a hint of caramel and fruits.
Light-medium body. Big malt flavors, lots of caramel, though not overpowering. A very faint bitterness comes through. Some biscuit flavors show up in the finish.
Not a bad amber, certainly there are better out there, but I could drink a few of these pretty easily.
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look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Pours an amber-brown with a decent head.
Aroma is mostly malt, a hint of caramel and fruits.
Light-medium body. Big malt flavors, lots of caramel, though not overpowering. A very faint bitterness comes through. Some biscuit flavors show up in the finish.
Not a bad amber, certainly there are better out there, but I could drink a few of these pretty easily.
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2.86/5 rDev -20.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
Hazy, red-coppery in hue with a peachy influence; I like the color. Fizzy off-white head, at the apex the foam was only one finger tall. The head retention was fair, the bubbles slowly faded to a slender cap. There some subsequent spotty lacing. In general, this is a respectable looking beer.
The nose is a soft mix of caramel malts and citrus with hints of biscuit. The hops and malts are well balanced but I do wish there was more complexity. It is oddly airy and empty; simple and soft spoken not all that inviting but its not offensive.
The palate has a tickle more life than the nose indicated but that is not saying much. Upfront is biting citrus and metal, juicy malts in the middle, some caramel and biscuit. It suffers from dull sweetness at the end; minimal bitterness throughout. Even for an Irish Red this beer is pretty darn dull. Yawn.
Medium-light in body, light carbonation, the mouthfeel suffers because the lack of effervesces makes the flavor profile seem sluggish.
In some ways this beer, while average, is fairly decent and yet run-of-the-mill with warts this doesnt cut it with me. This isnt something Id want to drink again as there are much better similar products. Nevertheless, thanks timtheenchanta for the bottle.
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look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
Hazy, red-coppery in hue with a peachy influence; I like the color. Fizzy off-white head, at the apex the foam was only one finger tall. The head retention was fair, the bubbles slowly faded to a slender cap. There some subsequent spotty lacing. In general, this is a respectable looking beer.
The nose is a soft mix of caramel malts and citrus with hints of biscuit. The hops and malts are well balanced but I do wish there was more complexity. It is oddly airy and empty; simple and soft spoken not all that inviting but its not offensive.
The palate has a tickle more life than the nose indicated but that is not saying much. Upfront is biting citrus and metal, juicy malts in the middle, some caramel and biscuit. It suffers from dull sweetness at the end; minimal bitterness throughout. Even for an Irish Red this beer is pretty darn dull. Yawn.
Medium-light in body, light carbonation, the mouthfeel suffers because the lack of effervesces makes the flavor profile seem sluggish.
In some ways this beer, while average, is fairly decent and yet run-of-the-mill with warts this doesnt cut it with me. This isnt something Id want to drink again as there are much better similar products. Nevertheless, thanks timtheenchanta for the bottle.
1,272 characters
3.4/5 rDev -5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Orange-honey colour, slight reddish overtone. Two finger off white head, somewhat quickly falls to one finger, leaving sparse lace behind before slowly falling more.
Fresh smell of malt and yeast, with just a bit of orange and nuttiness. Not a strong smell, but subtle and sweet.
Woody and a bit ashy right up front, then a bland sweetness with just a hint of peach follows. There's a watery element to the flavour as well.
It's a little watery right up front, then the carbonation (a little higher than mild) pops out at the same time as an average body makes itself apparent. The body holds well to the finish.
It would be a decent session beer if it had a little more going on. As it is, the flavour profile can be a little bland. I'd get just a touch bored with this one after a while.
Be well
-UF
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look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Orange-honey colour, slight reddish overtone. Two finger off white head, somewhat quickly falls to one finger, leaving sparse lace behind before slowly falling more.
Fresh smell of malt and yeast, with just a bit of orange and nuttiness. Not a strong smell, but subtle and sweet.
Woody and a bit ashy right up front, then a bland sweetness with just a hint of peach follows. There's a watery element to the flavour as well.
It's a little watery right up front, then the carbonation (a little higher than mild) pops out at the same time as an average body makes itself apparent. The body holds well to the finish.
It would be a decent session beer if it had a little more going on. As it is, the flavour profile can be a little bland. I'd get just a touch bored with this one after a while.
Be well
-UF
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3.49/5 rDev -3.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.5/5 rDev -2.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Served from tap into a mug. Poured a deep red-orange with a one finger off-white head that subsided to a minimal amount slowly. Maintained phenomenal lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, caramel, caramel hop, citrus, and subtle pine. The flavor was of sweet malt, pine, citrus, citrus hop, caramel, and subtle pine hop. It had a light feel on the palate with medium carbonation. Overall this was a decent brew. Nothing on this brew really stood out to me. While it was a decent brew from the style, it wasn't overly memorable. Worth trying if you haven't done so or if you see it on tap and want something a little lighter on the night.
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look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Served from tap into a mug. Poured a deep red-orange with a one finger off-white head that subsided to a minimal amount slowly. Maintained phenomenal lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, caramel, caramel hop, citrus, and subtle pine. The flavor was of sweet malt, pine, citrus, citrus hop, caramel, and subtle pine hop. It had a light feel on the palate with medium carbonation. Overall this was a decent brew. Nothing on this brew really stood out to me. While it was a decent brew from the style, it wasn't overly memorable. Worth trying if you haven't done so or if you see it on tap and want something a little lighter on the night.
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3.63/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
4.73/5 rDev +31.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
A nice smooth red ale. Smoother and very so slightly sweeter than Killians. I'll buy again.
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look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
A nice smooth red ale. Smoother and very so slightly sweeter than Killians. I'll buy again.
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3.5/5 rDev -2.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.55/5 rDev -1.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
12oz. Your basic red pour, a thin layer of white.
Aroma, herbal hops, malt, light tea.
Taste, a nice light balance of malt and herbal/piney hops. Some caramel and iced tea. Nothing real aggressive, but nice for the style.
On the lighter side, ample carbonation, drinks pretty easy. Wish the abv was a tick less, but you certainly still don't notice it where it is at.
A good red ale.
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look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
12oz. Your basic red pour, a thin layer of white.
Aroma, herbal hops, malt, light tea.
Taste, a nice light balance of malt and herbal/piney hops. Some caramel and iced tea. Nothing real aggressive, but nice for the style.
On the lighter side, ample carbonation, drinks pretty easy. Wish the abv was a tick less, but you certainly still don't notice it where it is at.
A good red ale.
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3.74/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a brown 12 oz. bottle.It says 6.2% abv on the label. Has a dark golden color with a 1 inch head. Smell is of caramel malts. Taste is hops up front, caramel malts at the finish, very easy drinking. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is an enjoyable beer.
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look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a brown 12 oz. bottle.It says 6.2% abv on the label. Has a dark golden color with a 1 inch head. Smell is of caramel malts. Taste is hops up front, caramel malts at the finish, very easy drinking. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is an enjoyable beer.
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Thomas Creek River Falls Red Ale from Thomas Creek Brewery
Beer rating:
3.6 out of
5 with
225 ratings
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