Saturday, October 15, 2011

Roller Dam Red

Beer Name: Roller Dam Red Ale
Brewery: Great River Brewery
ABV: 5.4%
Serving method: 22-oz draft in a pint-like glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

We had a long time in between the wedding ceremony and the wedding reception, so we figured the best way to fill in the gap would be to find some grownup juice. The bar/restaurant in the hotel would probably serve nicely to fulfill this goal.

There were only 2 beers on tap that I had never tried before, and I couldn't read the other one, so I went with the Roller Dam Red Ale (although, if I'm telling the truth, the tap only said "Great River" on it, so I had to ask what exactly would be flowing from said tap). If I ever own a bar, I am going to make it much easier to know what is on tap.

The Roller Dam Red Ale is, as you might expect, a fairly reddish copper colored beer. It poured without any head, and it was so cold that the glass started sweating and prevented any kind of lacing retention. The aroma is a grainy maltiness, with some bready qualities. This thing tells me "bready" is not an actual word, but how else can I make the word "bread" into an adjective? Stupid English. I am expecting a malty sweetness to this beer.

The flavor of this beer matches pretty well with what I was expecting from the aroma. It's mostly malty, with just a little bit of hops near the end. But not much bitterness from the hops, just a sort of hoppy sensation that mixes with the sweetness from the malt. There was a medium carbonation to the beer, and a very light mouthfeel.

Final thought - I usually don't go for the red ales for some reason, but maybe I should. This was a pretty good beer despite not being on my list of top styles. Perhaps I should expand my horizons more often. Also, this beer is Iowa's first contribution to Mmmm, beers! Welcome, Iowa.

-Jon

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