Red Nose Reinbeer | Cotleigh Brewery

3.71/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

A 500ml bottle with 5.0 abv as marked. Pours a cloudy brown with a light beige foamy head. Aromas of caramel, bread & malt. Tastes of caramel, toffee, bread, light roasted malt & nuts leading to a long nutty mild bitter finish. Overall better in the bottle than on draft.

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3.35/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Very dark auburn. Tight, off white frothy head.
Some malt and stewed hops to the nose.
Lightly spiced. Bitter catch to the back of the throat.
Rather lightweight. Not really a Winter/Christmas ale.

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3.75/5  rDev +1.4%

3.83/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

The colour is dark wine red with a tint of brown; the low head is off-white.

The smell is a bit sweet with quite a lot of dried fruits, some nuts and strong wine.

The taste is malty with a fine sweetness and a passing bitterness. Soft and mellow flavours of dried fruits, some spices and a distinct flavour of red cocktail berries. Fruity and flowery hops, a smooth sweetness and a sour hint in the aftertaste.

The carbonation is mild, the liquid is smooth.

A full-bodied somewhat sweet ale that made me very pleased, yet it is a beer that I find hard to describe.

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3.88/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Coming in a clear, 500ml short-neck bottle. BB 11/2010, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass.

A: dark reddish brown hued, coming with a dark beige creamy frothy head with good retention, against a relatively fizzy body with tiny bubbles at play.
S: beautifully composed nose - the lightly dusty/metallic notes and sour-sweet dark plums on the fruity façade rest on top of toasted malts, macadamia-nut flavoured dark chocolate, roasted chestnuts, and a lightly toffee-ish tinge with a mild buttery edge, laced with only a minimalist hop entry. A true winter-warmer's aroma, pleasantly malty and fruity with a decent level of complexity, while retaining light and refreshing elements throughout.
T: toasted maltiness combines with a dark fruity flavour upfront, leading fast to a refreshingly nutty mid-taste and plentiful toffee-ish maltiness to entertain the taste-buds. Soothing and semi-aromatic roasted nutty bitter-sweetness and a semi-dry palate likely due to burned malts linger along with satisfying undertones of Chinese dried red dates and (almost licorice+tea-leafy) herbal bitterness~~ Alas, the palate "thins out" a little in the end.
M&D: surprisingly light on the mouthfeel with a decent fizzy support, hence pretty easy to drink, while the flavour profile is rich against a medium-body, slightly awkward but it works in this beer! If only it was bottle-conditioned and packed in a brown, rather than clear, bottle...

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