Road To Mars Irish Red
Mt Ascension Brewing Co.

solid irish red ale, nothing special, and slightly amateurish, but drinkable enough, and hit the spot on their wonderful rooftop patio after a long day of travel, cant complain. listed at only 4.3% abv when we were in, must have scaled it back a little this year, which i think fits the style parameters a little better. its got a deep amber color to it, pretty good clarity, and a clingy khaki head that stays the whole drink and leaves rings after each sip. the aroma on this is muted, minimal, earthy with hints of raisin and peat, caramelized grain sugar, toffee, and bready ale yeast, its all here but its tame. the flavor is a little more expressive, i like the yeast being there the whole way, quite traditional in that sense, but they have left a lot of residual sugar here for the style, this doesnt have that dryness, doesnt quite taste as earthy and old world as the best of them as a result, and drinkability is slowed. that said, there is nice grain depth and richness to this, has an almost concentrated malt taste, and there is fine smoothness to it in terms of the texture. pretty basic stuff, but nice for this time of year. the beers here were just middle of the road in our experience. but the space is awesome!