Red Menace Big Amber
Hale's Ales Brewery & Pub

Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Hale's Ales Brewery & Pub
 
Washington, United States
Style:
American Amber / Red Ale
ABV:
4.6%
Score:
79
Avg:
3.43 | pDev: 15.16%
Reviews:
61
Ratings:
101
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Apr 29, 2021
Added:
Sep 23, 2004
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  8
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Offa:
Photo of Offa
Reviewed by Offa from California

2.36/5  rDev -31.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2
This is a fairly typical, heavy-handed, west-coast red ale, rather similar to Napa Smith beers in particular and not a very auspicious introduction to a brewery about which I'd heard a lot.

Hazy red amber, it has a medium orange-tan head soon shrinking to a foamy ring. Aroma is caramelised citrus, very flowery, pungent, with an exceedingly perfumy character that i find hard to pin down, and mixed citrus, dust and pine needles, but overly strong and rather unpleasant. It's specifically similar to Napa Smith Amber Ale but also broadly similar to many other west coast beers of this style which I have had. It's unbalanced and unpleasant.

The taste is similar, if not as unpleasant as the aroma, It's sweetish up front before bitterness moves to the fore at the finish and aftertaste, but overall sweetness-bitterness are at least pretty balanced at first. Caramelised grain and perfumy, grapefruity citrus dominate the character and esp. the aftertaste. The balance slowly destabilises and drinkability, never high, soon plummets.
Aug 16, 2010
More User Ratings:
Photo of bv51
Rated by bv51 from Washington

4/5  rDev +16.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
fresh taste, not much carbonation - enjoyed and will buy again.
Apr 29, 2021
Photo of snaotheus
Reviewed by snaotheus from Washington

3.08/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 2.75
2020-11-22
12oz can served in a tulip. No date on the can. Gift from a friend, received last night, but I think he'd had it for a while.

Pours a dark amber with a smallish head and not much carbonation. Smell is light toffee, toasted bread, tea and grain.

Taste is a little toffee and toasted bread, a lot of tea and grain, and metal. This metal flavor, hopefully not in my imagination, is why I stopped paying any attention to Hale's like ten years ago. I'm sad it's still there, but it makes the beer unpleasant to me.

Mouthfeel is medium, more carbonation than it looks. Overall, I don't want to drink it. It's not terrible, but it's not good.
Nov 23, 2020
 
Rated: 3.8 by AmitC from New York

Feb 08, 2020
Photo of rodbeermunch
Reviewed by rodbeermunch from Nevada

3.08/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
Oh Seattle, you funny, always trying to follow in San Francisco's footsteps and calling it originality or individuality, just like Portland tries.

Pours something that looks like it could be brown as much as it is amber/red. 2/5" off white head. Average retention. An aroma of red ale like malt, wood, pine, smells like the dirt around a camping spot. Bring the cooked malt.

Taste is a metallic bitterness accompanied with a dark roasted malt industrial complex. Honestly tastes like it is 7% abv, not less than 5. Caramel/toffee/dirt notes. Carbonation is where it should be. The maltiness doesn't provide the heft or viscosity I was thinking it would. Almost more for the coloring aspect than the mouth feel.

At the end of the day, this stacks up to similar step dad tier red ales with a dose of bitter C hop. Kind of crazy how similar it is to great beers like SNPA, but in reality, this is the barely serviceable generic bagged cereal version of what you really wanted to get at the store.
Jan 24, 2020
 
Rated: 3.64 by Shantzak from Pennsylvania

Jan 23, 2019
 
Rated: 4.08 by MugC from Washington

Jul 08, 2018
 
Rated: 3.52 by DoctorEvil65 from Washington

Apr 15, 2018
Photo of gandres
Reviewed by gandres from Philippines

3.79/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
12 ounce bottle poured to tulip glass
Sight: dark amber color minimal head, some lacing
Smell: malty aroma
Taste: very Good, but not a lot of character
Mouth feel: low carbonation
Overall: very good beer, but not something to look forward for the price
Oct 09, 2017
 
Rated: 3.24 by evergreen_machine from Washington

Jun 12, 2017
Photo of Superjimbob
Reviewed by Superjimbob from Washington

2.9/5  rDev -15.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Minimal head that disappears quickly, nice colour though. Smells tinny and as expected, has a hoppy bitterness.
Mouth feel is watery and dry aftertaste. Didn't really get me excited. The remaining 5 will outlive other beers in my fridge.
Sep 03, 2016
 
Rated: 4.81 by ench from Washington

Mar 02, 2016
Photo of LiquidAmber
Reviewed by LiquidAmber from Washington

3.75/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a medium coppery amber with light red notes and a half finger off-white head with good retention and lacing. Aroma of biscuit and light caramel malt, light citrus and grassy hops with a hint of fruit. Flavor follows with biscuit and mildly caramel malt, citrus and grassy hops with a light note of sweet citrus fruit that comes forward in the later part of the taste to provide a pleasant introduction to the light citrus hop finish. Medium bodied with good carbonation. A nice amber ale that has enough fruit in the flavor to be in red ale territory, although it is not a distinctive red. I'm a big red ale fan and am ambivalent about ambers, so this one tasted fine to me as a more full flavored amber if a mild red ale. Plenty going on here for an under 5% ale, I'm pleased. I've found Hale's to be a solid brewery and this is in that category. I'm surprised by the relatively low rating for this one.
Aug 07, 2015
 
Rated: 3.27 by Donkster46 from Washington

May 28, 2015
 
Rated: 3.5 by cherche from Washington

May 23, 2015
 
Rated: 3.5 by Hellpop65 from Kansas

Oct 04, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by nhirsch04 from Ohio

Jun 30, 2014
 
Rated: 5 by Dcbelkot from Washington

Jun 24, 2014
 
 
Rated: 3.5 by BillRoth from Maryland

Dec 28, 2013
Red Menace Big Amber from Hale's Ales Brewery & Pub
Beer rating: 79 out of 100 with 101 ratings