Imperial Red Ale
Cheeky Monkey Brewery

Pours an amber-red colour, clear with foamy cream-coloured head. Sticks around OK. Bit pale for the style maybe but otherwise very nice.

Smells quite sweet upfront, caramel and toffee notes mingling with the malt, then fruity notes from the hops, with banana, passion and lemon. Bit muted hops-wise but pleasant.

Peanutty malt upfront on the palate. Slight buttery notes with a hint of banana and a faint whisper of lemon. Actually gets quite earthy with a touch of lucerne and very dry on the back. Hops essentially go nowhere, and are a bit disappointing.

Full body, quite nice. Touch of booze on there but not too sharp.

More imperial than 'red' ale. Would like to see this with the hops amped up a bit and the booze toned down a bit. Potential here but doesn't quite go where it should.

Tried on-tap during GABS 2013.

Pours an orange-amber hue, almost red, but not quite getting there. Very good clarity, with minimal residual haze. Body is solid. Head forms a very solid, very pleasant off-white/ecru colour, leaving full, frothy lacing. Lots of fine carbonation as well. It really looks great.

Nose is pleasantly balanced between malt and hops, perhaps with the sweetness coming out a bit more strongly: I get carob, preserved orange, stewed fruit and lots of toffee, or sticky sweetness. It's cut and balanced only a little by a slight pepper character. But still, it's pretty pleasant.

Pepper noticeable on the front, along with a slightly medicinal herbal bite. The sweetness comes through the centre, with carob, lightly toffeed caramel and malt, before the back picks up the hops, giving a sharp, almost phenolic character—a clinging bitterness in the aftertaste. Mingled with the remaining toffee characters, there's a slight buttery note to the finish. It's not quite right, but it's not all bad either.

Feel is very smooth.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with this. Sure, there are some flaws, but overall it's a pretty damn good package.