21st Amendment Brewery Toaster Pastry India Red Ale

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

Tonight’s featured beer is 21^st Amendment Brewery Toaster Pastry India Red Ale. I picked this can up (along with the commemorative “tube” and a cool 21^st Amendment Brewery San Leandro flag) at the 21^st Amendment Brewery Grand Opening Party on August 29^th, 2015.  Although I drank this beer a while ago (and have purchased more since) I hadn’t gotten around to writing the review so here goes…

From the 21st Amendment Brewery website: “Our first beer out of our new brewery is an homage to its former life as a toaster pastry factory.

Biscuit malts give the beer a slightly nutty, crust-like flavor, while pale and dark Crystal malts create the mouthfeel and flavors reminiscent of strawberry jam. Calypso and other experimental hops give this ruby ale a welcome bite, plus a few more in the hop back for a toasty-sweet aroma.

* Toaster Pastry won a Silver medal in the Double Red Ale Category at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival®”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a dark copper color with a large ivory head and leaves excellent lacing.

Aroma: Fruity, citrus, pine and tropical hops, strawberry, caramel, bready, toasty and biscuit malts.

Taste: Grapefruit, lemon, pineapple, strawberry, mango, peach, pear, berries, pine…there’s a lot going on…toasted bread, caramel malt, toffee and crusty biscuits.

Overall: Juicy, hoppy and perfectly sweet, 21^st Amendment Brewery Toaster Pastry India Red Ale is solid.  This 7.6% ABV offering is excellent and a great example of the style.  A triumphant release from one of my favorite breweries!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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