Saturday, April 19, 2014

Santa Clara Valley Brewing New Almaden Red Imperial Red Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Santa Clara Valley Brewing New Almaden Red Imperial Red Ale. I picked up this bottle at Royal Liquors in San Jose (here). If you get a chance, head in there and tell ‘em that Mark from NorCal Beer Blog sent you.  You’ll be glad you did – they have an incredible selection!

From the Santa Clara Valley Brewing website: “During the California Gold Rush the foothills just south of San Jose were mined for their red cinnabar, which contained the quicksilver essential for extracting gold from its encasing rock. The historic town that is home to the oldest and richest mine in the state is called New Almaden and is the inspiration for our Imperial Red Ale.
New Almaden Red pours an exquisite cinnabar color. It is brewed with a combination of pale and crystal malts to create a complex malt profile, while copious amounts of hops are added to balance the malt sweetness and create a piney, citrusy aroma and flavor.”
Let’s get started!
Appearance: Pours a clear reddish amber with a tan head and loads of sticky lacing.
Aroma: Pine and citrus hops, sweet caramel and toffee.
Taste: Pine, citrus, grapefruit hops balanced well with caramel and toffee malts.
Overall: Nicely balanced, Santa Clara Valley Brewing New Almaden Red Imperial Red Ale is solid.  The 10% ABV is somewhat evident, but does not detract.  Very enjoyable!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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