Edenton King David's Red
Edenton Brewing Company

Poured almost a ruby red color. Beige head fades with a few clumps left behind-I'm not dead yet! Decent lacing all around the glass.
Aroma-Sweet malt with hops slightly dominant.
Tatstes great= medium malt body with some sweetness there with an earthy and mild hop profile. A good froth heightens the bitterness as it lasts through to the finish. Hard to find anyone really trying to duplicate a true Red around here. Great beer and represents the style well. Quuaffable and I really enjoyed this one.

A nice big 20 oz. glass filled with a reddish amber beer with small white head. The smell was good malt body with plenty of caramel notes. Taste was also very good caramel malt flavor that really got better with each sip. The mouthfeel was decently carbonated and moderately thick. Drinkability was great. I could have easily gone for a second.

12oz single, Peace Street Market in Raleigh

appearance: pours a hazy light copper into a SN Celebration pint glass, light foamy beige head, little lacing

smell: very interesting aromas, big and buttery, flaky biscuit, big caramel presence, light grasy hops, toasted malt

taste: flaky buttery biscuit, sweet red apple, butterscotch, lightly toasted malt, smooth caramel, light vanilla, light grassy hop taste...interesting to say the least...I enjoy when american ambers turn towards the biscuit

mouthfeel: medium body, smooth

drinkability: pretty strong

12oz brown bottle, no date information

Thick tan head of loosely packed small bubbles. Dimples fatly as it settles. Murky amber with ample carbonation streams. The smell is modestly of roasted malt, with a light fruitiness that is slightly sweet with a touch of caramel. The taste follows the smell with a light roasted note up front that gives way to a light spicy hop finish. There is a lemony tartness present as well that seems out of place. With just a touch of warmth, the finish picks up a sharp, almost metallic, edge. Light body with a slightly watery feel. The carbonation was on the soft side. The was an average beer that seems to have gone awry.

Poured a cloudy apricot color with midest alightly off-white head. Head rapidly fell to a thin ring leaving no lacing. Smell is sweet and malty with a touch of caramel. Taste is strong on malt with a nice caramel presence. A pleasant dryness begins to assert itselt to provide an excellent balance to the beer. Very easy drinking. Nice session beer. Less hoppy than many other beers in this class but very enjoyable.

after having a several people recommend this beer to me, I'm hoping that I just got a bad bottle of this beer, and that my friends aren't losing it.

It poured with an inch tall head in a mug with decent lacing as I drank it. It was the color of iced tea.

The aroma was a bit off, IMO. I could tell this was a red-ale, but there was some smell I couldn't identify that was neither hops nor malt.

Taste was off a bit as well. I don't know how to identify what I didn't like about it, other than to say it it was neither hops nor malt that I was tasting, but something else. There is another review by BuckeyNation that seems to describe the off-taste pretty well.

Mouthfeel was a bit overcarbonated, but not bad.

Overall, I didn't care for this beer, but may give it another try in hopes that I just got a bad bottle.

The beer poured with a decent head that tapered down to a thin coating. The color is like a cloudy glass of tea. The smell reminds me of vanilla and cinnamon. There is a sweetness to the smell too. The taste is a little like butterscotch. There is a nice sweet and bitter aftertaste. The mouthfeel is very smooth. Certainly a beer I will have again. A very good red beer. One of the best I have had.

12oz bottle with no freshness date. Pours a amber red with some sediment, a 1 finger head and very nice lace. Smells of a rich caramel malt, nutty, and slight vanilla. Rich caramel malt followed by a fairly high hop flavor and bitterness - that is for an Irish red. Somewhat high carbonation but very easy drinking. Another decent brew from Edenton

Burnt orange with a weathered bronze character. The abundant carbonation makes me a little leery in terms of the mouthfeel, but it results in a good looking cap. Somewhere between lightest caramel and palest orange, it's so firm that a craggy, high desert mesa of foam is perched in the center of the glass. An intricate, strangely uniform, array of lace is seen.

The nose is odd, although it's still recognizable as belonging to a red ale. Odd isn't a positive in this case (or I would have used the words 'pleasantly interesting'). There's an artificial aspect that I don't find appealing and that reminds me of... I don't know what exactly, but it isn't beer-related. The more classic red ale aromas aren't really present.

That same 'differentness' is present on the palate and is just as difficult to ignore. It doesn't taste like the beer is bad/infected necessarily, but something isn't right. The malt bill consists of pils malt and three different varieties of caramel malt. It's hard to believe that any of them are to blame. I'm sure not going to point the finger at Perle, Fuggles, Golding or Tettanang hops. It could be an infection, I guess. I do get some Band-Aid-like phenols.

The beer is malty and hoppy in near equal measure, with very little sweet caramel flavor. In addition, with that hop lineup, I'd expect a more pleasantly hoppy flavor. Bitterness, we've got. Good hoppy flavor, we don't got. I like the beer less and less with each passing ounce. Its good points are fading into the background, while the medicinal flavor is becoming more prominent.

There isn't much to say about the mouthfeel. It's 'red ale medium', with a level of carbonation that is neither too rambunctious (as feared) nor too subdued. A decent mouthfeel isn't worth much, however, when the flavor is mildly offputting.

I've enjoyed the other Edenton beers that I've had and have given them all respectable to more than respectable marks. King David's Red is so far afield that I have to wonder if there isn't something wrong with this bottle. If the brewers actually wanted this flavor profile, then their idea of a good red ale is vastly different from my idea of a good red ale.

appearance: The pour into my imperial pint glass creates a .25" off white head that recedes to a collar, and a thin layer of small bubbles coats the surface. The beer is medium, brownish red color.

smell: Moderately sweet caramel malt and a very slight nuttiness are first noted. Light fruity esters also. Hop aroma is light, but gives just the right balance and allows the subtle malt sweetness to show itself.

mouthfeel: The carbonation is smooth, pushing the border between light and medium. The beer is medium in body.

taste: Much of the same from the smell. A moderate caramel sweetness is noticed at first, joined by a slight nuttiness and a drying, moderate hop bitterness after the swallow. Everything is in good balance and tasty.

drinkability: High, a well crafted brew here.

Bottle from a six pack picked up fresh from the brewery last night.

Nice amber-copper color with a nice creamy tan head, very active carbonation, and some spotty lace. Aroma shows signs of aging but signs of nutty malt peek thru. Nutty malt aroma and flavor dominate with some toasty biscuit character. Medium bodied and smooth.

Slightly off but certainly drinkable.

Edenton -- Talk to your distributors about old brews (assuming it's old based on the bottle codes below) or bone up on the Quality Assurance.

Per Label: "Irish Style Red Ale"

Per EBC website:
Pilsner and 3 types of Caramel malts.
Perle, Fuggles, Goldings, and Tettnang hops.

'3256' lasered on bottom ('03' emb on bottom)
Tasted: 12/25/05

Pours a beautiful dark canberry red. Nice frothy head that dissapates slowly. Well laced.
Mostly a sweet fruity smell. Nothing special.
Very well balanced sweet at the beginning to bitter at the end. Hint of fruit.
Mouthfeel is good. Carbonation is well balanced. Maybe could be a touch thicker.
Very drinkable. Good session beer.

12oz bottle from GCBrewingCo as part of BIF 20. Thanks for the opportunity.

Poured into an imperial pint glass, formed a 2 1/2" light tan head above the reddish amber brew. Head fades very slowly, and laces with havy foam here and there throughout. Aroma is malty with a tinge of hops. Taste starts with a nice level of malt sweetness, goes a bit bitter in the middle and has a slightly chalky aftertaste. Mouthfeel and drinkability are okay, but seem like they could be good or better with just a little improvement. A pleasant brew, just seems like it could be a little more.

12 oz. bottle courtesy of hoppedup in BIF 21.

Amber red body with a small frothy foam head that laces very well and keeps a pillow on top.

Smell is a little underpowered. Some chocolate malt and a bit of hop in front of a bit of sweet malt.

Taste is pretty full. Nice light spicy bitterness on the front fading into a sweet malt and light chocolate malt finish. pretty good.

Doesn't dry out or have any off flavors. A solid red thats right in the middle of the style but still nails it pretty well and still stands out a bit.

Released a la bottle, pours a steep russett rusty red into a pint with a scant layer of tan thin collar topping off the party.

Modest yet effervescent standard red aromas of apple malt and sugary esters.

First swigs: Red apple soft malty cushiony flavors with sweet malt almost toffee backing. Well, balanced with some dryness imparted by the hops. Some root beer twinge in there as well. Dry clean quick finish with virtually no aftertaste.

Medium body with gentle carbonation. Clean aftertaste especially for a red which seems to have a cloying aspect usually.

Last swigs: Light apple juice notes and cola. What Irish has to do with the appelation, not sure but red has never been a favorite. My buddy's wife loves them and usually any reds in a mixed case go to her. This one was saved for me and it's not bad. A notch above average overall.

Ber is good. Happy beering.

The beer pours a dark amber color with a 1/4" offwhite head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is good. It has a nice malty scent that boasts of pale, crystal, and bisquit malts. It's breadlike with a light hop aroma. The taste is good. It has a smooth and malty flavor that goes down easy and finishes sweet with a slightly bitter edge. It has a dry quality that comes through in the aftertaste, proboably from the hops. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a medium bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a good Irish red ale. I like the malty aroma and flavor. It's very tastey and highly drinkable.

Appearance: Dark Amber. Mostly brown when the beer is not well lit.

Aroma: Bready. Malt caramel spread thin over toasted bread. There are hints of fruity sweetness.

Tastes: Malt sweetness leads down to a nice citrusy hop tinglyness. The hopping isn't very bitter, but it is more bitter than many ambers. The body is nice. The beginning of the taste is a bit of sweet caramel with tinges of toasted bread. The finish leaves oa bit of sweetness on the tongue.

Notes: A good beer. Definately very drinkable, a good offering from Edenton's.

Appearence: Again as with the rest of Edenton's beers I've had, the head comes foaming out the top of the bottle and pours entirely too big into the glass. I don't know if it's a problem with yeast or what, but it's bad.

Smell: The smell is an appropriately hopped sweet malt smell with a caramel base.

Taste and Mouthfeel: The taste is quite spicy. I don't know if I'd call this an amber ale really. It seems like it might be good mulled. I may have to find out. The malts are sweet, and the hops bitter quite nicely, creating an almost flowery taste mixed with pretty heavy spices. It almost tastes like liquid incense, but not foul. The mouthfeel is slick and smooth.

Drinkability and Overall: Other than the head, this is a great beer. The spices really make it unique, but it's still quite enjoyable and quite drinkable. It may be a little too warm for this beer now, but in the winter, this would be perfect.

The beer pours with a small white head, and a light amber/copper color that seems slightly too light for an irish-style red. The smell is mostly a sweet caramel malt scent and a very light hop scent the hides how hoppy this beer really is. The taste starts with a slight hop bitterness then you get a sweet caramel malt taste the soon lead into a fairly bitter, juicy, floral hops taste that leaves a dry bitter finish on your tongue. A surprisingly hoppy irish red beer, thats quite drinkable and has the makings of an excellent session beer. Another excellent offering from edenton, though i do remember it being better (obviously) and hoppier on tap at the brewery).

Out of a sample case. Five different beers from a brewery I had never heard. Why not.
It’s a very reddish amber brew with a small, off-white, creamy, mostly-diminishing head. Excellent lacing most of the way down. Smell is sweet up front with a nice piney and grassy freshness to it, along with a little spice and yeast. Taste is initially heavily malty, and a little woody. Then the sweetness mellows a bit as it changes over to lightly bitter on the finish. But there’s this very late sweetness that comes into play long after you swallow. Mouthfeel is good with a medium-thin body and soft carbonation. This is a great grilling beer, easy drinking and crisp enough to keep your thirst at bay while standing in front the hot grill, yet interesting enough to stand up to the smoke and spices coming up off the grill. This is my favorite of the 5 Edenton beers in the mix case.