Eric The Red Eye
Longship Brewery

 

 

this was one of my favorite beers we had in here when we visited, a rich red amber ale spiked with coffee, a cool combination of malts and java that i wish we saw more of, the synergy between the dark roasty coffee and the sweeter, nutty, warm toasted malts is obvious, and the flavor that is developed here is fantastic. so often coffee is lost in beer to heavy chocolate or roasted malts, but in this case it stands out, and contributes 100% of the low end of this beer, and i think thats incredible. the grain in here is a bit sweet, but its not too much, serving to balance out the bitterness inherent in the coffee and make a well rounded palate overall. i like the breadiness, the concentrated richness, maple and toffee notes, almonds and hazelnuts even too, quite layered and really cohesive. the body is a little light for all the flavor depth, im surprised they didnt stretch this out a little bit, but a lot like their dunkelweizen, this might not be a style folks gravitate towards with the nice california weather, so lightening it up makes sense in that regional climate context. good and fresh, the right amount of coffee, really tasty brew! this would be cool as a lager too...