Brick Is Red
Bent Stick Brewing Co.

Nice citrus and pine on the aroma, some caramel. Sadly there's a slight banana-esque phenolic smelling going on in the nose. Thankfully, it only last on the palate a short time and get obliterated by grapefruit, orange peel, toasted bread and a bit of brown sugar. Sweet, bitter, citrusy and a real nice beer from the fellows at Bent Stick. Cant wait to see what they put forth in the future!

650ml bomber poured into tulip 21/7/16

A has a maroon glow when held to the light, enough clarity to see bubbles streaming up the side, thumbs width of tan foam has great retention leaving a couple partial rings followed by some random patches

S herbal and malty, cotton candy, dark bread, leafy tea bag and faint handful of pennies, everything's a little faint, I like whats there but would like more of it

T more herbal tea, leafy, lots of dark toffee, some citrus rind, more going on and a little more intensity

M has some weight and almost creams up, slick inside, big finish of herbal hops and rind

O not a bad red, respectable but nothing really to set it apart, good but not great, ect, ect, ect....

A good start and maybe a couple tweaks could make it better, I could see fans of the style reaching for it over some of the big guys with no hesitation

 

650ml bottle, the other half of the initial duo of bomber-packaged offerings from this brand-new Edmonchuk brewing concern. Interesting use of the English language in the name and descriptor on the front label.

This beer pours a clear, dark red-brick amber colour, with two pudgy fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and somewhat bubbly beige head, which leaves some decent splattering ocean froth lace around the glass as it lazily subsides.

It smells of semi-sweet, bready and biscuity caramel malt, underripe apples and pears, thin toffee notes, a faint earthy ashiness, subtle indistinct citrus flesh, and very tame leafy, weedy, and floral green hop bitters. The taste is grainy and doughy caramel malt, gently biscuity toffee, some mixed ripe pome and citrus fruitiness, ethereal wet smoke, a hint of yeast, and more rather laid-back earthy, herbal, and floral hoppiness.

The carbonation is quite docile in its workaday frothiness, the body a solid medium weight, and mostly smooth, with a sneaky unknown bitterness wading in, even in the face of a burgeoning airy creaminess. It finishes well off-dry, the caramel and toffee continuing to shed their biscuity character, alongside some lingering generic fruit, and well and gone verdant hop esters.

Overall, a decently rendered Canadian red/amber ale, with lots of robust flavour. However, without the attendant bitterness from the hops employed here, it does fall a bit on the sweet side of things, so it's good, but not something that this hop-head would really consider making a night of - your commensurate mileage may vary.