Roughneck Red
Shale Brewing Company

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, no bottle dating. Pours crystal clear deep orange/copper/amber color with a 1-2 finger dense and fluffy off white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice dense soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, and toasted biscuit; with mild notes of roast, nuttiness, pear, apple, herbal, grass, and toasted earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good complexity of dark/bready malt and light fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with solid strength. Taste of big caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, and toasted biscuit; with mild notes of nuttiness, roast, pear, apple, herbal, grass, and toasted earthiness. Mild herbal/roast bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, light nuttiness/roast, herbal, grass, and toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a nice malt/bitterness balance, and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Slightly increasing dryness from bitterness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready, and slightly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 4.9%. Overall this is a delicious American amber ale. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt and light fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the mildly bitter finish. Very flavorful with a great body/mouthfeel for the low ABV. Clean and rich crystal/Munich malt flavors; with mild earthy hop balance against sweetness. A very enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.

From the 12 oz bottle in a snifter. This most excellent example of the amber
ale style pours a beautiful red tinged amber with a fluffy head of white
foam that subsides to a thick ring, thick layer, and features some nice light lacing.
Nose of toasted breaded malts, sweet caramel malts, and subtle grain notes. Flavors
hit all the right notes for a solid amber (and one of if not THE BEST I have ever tried).
Smooth rich caramel malts dance with light breaded malts in perfect balance with
very subtle herbal hops that cut through the sweetness and give a great back
drop to a fantastic mouth feel of lightly coating and sweet finishing amber red ale.
Medium carbonation, smooth, quenching, and darn near perfect with near
perfect balance. An awesome brew from Ohio that I will seek more of.

Cheers