Aviator Red
Flying Bison Brewing Company

On tap at Nine Eleven Tavern in Buffalo, NY.

This one pours a medium amber red color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like toasty malt, some light smoke, roast, and lightly bitter hopping.

This was a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t entirely expecting the light wisp of smoke here – was that intentional? It’s more richly malty than I expect red ales or beers in general from Flying Bison to be.

This is medium bodied, creamy, and quite drinkable.

I only ordered this because it was the only other beer on the menu I hadn’t tried. Nonetheless, I was pleasantly surprised.

Recently in Ireland. This is as good as any Irish there. Excellent taste. Well balanced. Very drinkable stronger than many. But not overpowering. Can safely drink a few. Worth going out of your way to try.

 

 

Nothing special. Had a draft at the Anchor Bar downtown Buffalo, NY. Easy drinkability but lacked any substantial character.

 

 

 

Red Ales are just plain hard to pull off. This one smells and tastes pretty average, but the beauty of this beer is the texture. Unlike most Reds they got the body on this perfect, it's not too light (and therefore weak tasting) and it's not a heavy mess like many.

 

 

very nice! balanced and flavorful. If you like a bit of hop bite, it's there along with some broad malty flavors. A tough one to pass by

 

 

From BeerAdvocate Magazine #84 (Jan 2014):

A serious and tasty little Red Ale here, with a high level of drinkability. Perhaps more to style than the mass-produced, over-processed Irish Red Ales of today. Quaffing back a pint or few would be the only proper way to approach this ale. We swear it was daring us to pair it with some crubeens ...

STYLE: Irish Red Ale
ABV: 5.5%
AVAILABILITY: Year-round

LOOK: Dark chestnut hue, thin layer of lacing

SMELL: Bready, toffee, baked apples, brown bread, hint of alcohol

TASTE: Tight crispness, layered smoothness, dried hay, toasted bread, apple skin, herbal, balancing hop bitterness, toasted grain, caramel; drying, grainy finish

Not overly carbonated. Some chocolate mid-taste with a Soggy bitter and heavy malty finish. It's a little of everything but not much of anything. Decent red ale, have had much better. Wouldn't buy on my own, got in the flying bison variety.

 

Aviator Red poured a deep ruby to brown with a spirited head that laced down the pint glass. The aroma of Aviator Red is predominantly caramel sweet malt with a touch of spice. The taste of Aviator Red was as expected from an Irish style red ale with malt shining through. Where I think Aviator Red excels is the blend of other flavors surrounding the malt character, including Kent Golding hops. The mouthfeel of Aviator Red is light and the carbonation level is on target.

Aviator Red is certainly malt-centric, but I found Aviator Red to be not as malty as other Irish red ales. I feel there is a unique balance achieved by Aviator Red: malt dominance is balanced exceptionally well with hop modesty.

 

 

 

 

Tending more to the malty side than hoppy side, with mild notes of sweet chocolaty malt. Poured from a bottle, which yielded hardly any head no lacing at all. Entirely drinkable beer, but nothing remarkable at all about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12oz bottle poured into a snifter.

A: Pours a deep ruby brown with a mild off white head. Dissipates in a minute or so, doesnt leave much lacing.

S: Chocolate malts come to mind when I smell this beer. Nice roasty quality to it. Dark fruits also come into play.

T: This beer comes across as a malt forward, roasty red ale. Hops take a back seat as the malt dominates the profile. A pretty sweet beer. Touch of a metallic taste.

M: Medium body with a fairly creamy mouthfeel. Finish is clean enough to keep this sessionable.

Overall not a bad beer. Lots of good malt flavor going on. Give it a go if your into red ales.