Mendocino Red Tail Ale

Product Reviewed: Mendocino Red Tail Ale
Brewed By: Mendocino Brewing Company; Hopland, California
Style: American Amber Ale
Form Reviewed: Draft at the Brewpub
Original Posted to Usenet: July 18, 1996

Mendocino Brewing Company
13351 US 101 S
Hopland, California
707-744-1361

Initial Impressions:

Mendocino Brewing Company in Hopland, California is the direct successor to the New Albion Brewing Company. New Albion was the pioneer in the craft brewery revolution, having opened in 1976: a full five years before Sierra Nevada. When New Albion closed in 1980, several alumni of that effort opened the Mendocino Brewing Company in 1983, which made it California's first brewpub since prohibition.

Mendocino is a nice brewpub in an aptly-named town, and I encourage anybody visiting the bay area to make the journey north. (Combine a trip to Hopland with a pilgrimage to Anderson Valley in Boonville and you have a beery little daytrip.) I especially like the outdoor beer garden, which is shaded by grape vines and hop plants.

My research indicates that Mendocino's Red Tail is the first (of many) West Coast Amber Ales. (For a full consideration of that issue see my article in Brewing Techniques Nov/Dec 95). As such, it serves as an appropriate starting point for an investigation into this style. Furthermore, while I argue in my article that the style can be divided into hoppy and malty variants, (which John Maier of Rogue calls "Red" and "Amber"), Red Tail is a balance between the two approaches to Amber Ale.

In my article, I was appropriately neutral regarding the beer itself. My purpose was to define the style, not review the beer. This is a forum where I can review the beer itself, and the results may surprise you.

The Red Tail was -- you guessed it -- amber colored in my pint glass. The head was white, and it displayed normal retention properties.

Nose:

I found slight hoppy notes in the aroma of Red Tail, and a hint fruitiness, but otherwise the bouquet was uninteresting.

Flavor:

Red Tail starts out with a slight malty flavor, which quickly slides into subtle diacetyl and estery notes. Hop flavor was present, but minimal. A crystal note is apparent in the middle of the beer. A slightly coarse hop finish adds to the dryness created by a high-attenuating yeast strain.

Final Analysis:

Red Tail deserves merit for being the pioneering West Coast Amber Ale. Its reliance on caramel malts (40L in this case) for flavor and color distinguishes it from American Pales in the Sierra Nevada mold. The domestic malts and hops makes this a completely different beer from English ales (not to mention that this beer tends to be served colder and gassier than English bitters).

Nevertheless, while Red Tail is a pioneering West Coast Amber, it does not rank among the best examples of the style. The brewer achieved what he sought: a pleasant beer that balances the mat and the hop, but is not aggressive. He achieved this goal, but the result is a beer that is not really exciting. Furthermore, bittering with Clusters is known to produce a rough, nearly astringent finish in a beer: Red Tail uses Cluster, and has that profile. (In fact, prior to being informed that Mendocino uses Cluster, I had jotted down "Clusters?" in my notes.) The beer would have scored a 3 if it was not for that distraction. Regardless, though, Red Tail serves as both a model for many brewers up and down the West Coast to emulate (which they have -- a lot) and to serve as a launching point for experimentation with the style yielding some distinctive beers, such as Rogue Red and Amber, Alaskan Frontier Amber, or Pyramid Pale Ale.

Rating: **1/2

(5-star scale)

Next Up (in no particular order):

Sierra Nevada IPA
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot
Anderson Valley IPA
Sea Dog Pale Ale

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