Red Spruce
Forbidden Peak Brewery

a red ale with spruce tips, and a real solid beer, very alaska, but i definitely was hoping for a little more spruce out of it. its real subtle in both aroma and flavor, and while its identifiable enough, its also kind of tame, and i was sort of hoping this would be a big woodsy pine profile, more of an accent instead. the base beer is simple and tasty, some kilned and toasted grain character to it, a light toffee and honey sweetness, but it isnt rich. i also get a little bready character out of the yeast, not quite english but maybe leaning in that direction, the hops have obvious citrus notes, but also seem slightly overpowered by the grain, this is a malt driven beer long before its hoppy, but everything is real fresh and well proportioned. the spruce is natural, slightly oily in this, and fully complimentary to the hops, they work great together, and both come out more as this sits and warms up a little bit. this is very much an everyday drinker, a pretty classic red with just a slight twist from the spruce, nothing too robust about it, but there is enough there at the finish for this to be a lot more interesting than a basic amber type. the quality is there, and while i would take more of the spruce on this for sure, i certainly enjoyed my pint!