Revolution Brewing Red Skull

The Stats
Style: American Amber/Red Ale
ABV: 8.3%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.06/5
- RateBeer: 3.63/5

As I said in my prior review of Mosaic-Hero IPA, Revolution Brewing out of Chicago is here in Massachusetts in full force. I spotted today's beer at only one store, so I had to snatch it up. It's an Imperial Red Ale brewed with Cascade hops and then dry-hopped with Citra.

A beautiful dark, ruby red on the pour that was mostly transparent except for some chill haze. I got about a finger of eggshell/yellowish head.

Sweet malts and subtle citrus on the aroma with just a tinge of pine.

Some nice dank hop bitterness greets me first which is nice since it was absent from the aroma. The malt presence is big and bold, but it doesn't distract from the fresh hop taste. In fact, the malts lend an underlying caramel flavor that makes this sweet until the pine and spruce show up. It sounds crazy, but the pine with the fresh hop taste kind of makes me think of walking through a row of wet Christmas trees. That combined with the sweet, sugary flavors gives off just the faintest bit of maple syrup. The finish comes back to some resinous pine sap and a tiny bit of juicy hops.

Mouthfeel is full-bodied with good carbonation. No alcohol taste or warming at all. It finish a little dry, but overall smooth.

Red Skull is a great example of the Red Ale. While a bigger hop juice presence would have been welcome, this still has a full flavor palette chock-full of enough pine, citrus, and sweet malts to satisfy any lover of the style.

Rating
8.5/10