Maine Beer Red Wheelbarrow
Like many of our beers, Red Wheelbarrow (which started out as a pilot batch brewed by brewer Dan Roberts) doesn’t fit neatly into a style category — think of it as a stronger, more hop-forward interpretation of a traditional red ale. Red Wheelbarrow is not, however, a “red IPA” – there is robust malt character (think raisin and fig) on both the nose and palate that temper the abundant hop presence (think citrus fruit).
Vitals:
Color – Red
ABV – 7.0%
O.G. – 1.070
Malt – Weyermann Munich 1, Briess 2-Row, Victory, Chateau Special B, Chateau Abbey, Briess C-80
Hops – Columbus, Amarillo, Falconer’s Flight
Vitals:
Color – Red
ABV – 7.0%
O.G. – 1.070
Malt – Weyermann Munich 1, Briess 2-Row, Victory, Chateau Special B, Chateau Abbey, Briess C-80
Hops – Columbus, Amarillo, Falconer’s Flight
3.8
247 reviews
Freeport, United States
Community reviews
Pours a hazy amber with thick white head. Has a strong aroma of hops, caramel, malts, and pine. Taste is a mix of caramel, fruit malts, citrus hops, pine and some fruits and grains. A dry and bitter malt aftertaste.
Perhaps my palate is tainted by the 51st Ward The Krispy Karl I just sampled. This is very hoppy, but the malt character just isn’t there. Not well balanced at all. Take my review with a grain of salt, since my experience is atypical it seems.
Pours with a thick head due to the bottle conditioning. Nice malt build with a very balanced body. Carmel and a bit of sweetness are whet I get from this.
Bouteille 12-01-2015. Superbe bière ambrée avec une mousse intense. Superbe nez de fruits confits, de houblons, d’agrumes. Une bouche savoureuse, mordante, intense sans être désagréable. Finale amère déconcertante, c’est ce qu’on recherche chez une amber ale; un équilibre entre les malts et les houblons.
Bottle - This one was a little too bitter for my taste. I like an amber ale that has character, but not too much bitterness. It does have a nice creamy mouthfeel, that I like, with some raisin and dark fruit notes hidden under the bitterness. Overall, solid, but too bitter for me.
Bottle from Maine Tap Room. Pours Amber with a white head. Lots of citrus hop notes on the nose. Big hop flavor on the tongue. I'm not sure how much malt is there but it's pretty flavorful with a nice amount of bitterness on the finish. Interesting take on an often dull style.
Poured from a bottle, from Old Line Fine Wine, Spirits & Bistro. Appearance is a light reddish brown color with a half inch light tan head. Aroma is grassy, earthy hop aroma with a heavy malt presence. Taste is bitterness to start things out, and then toasty, and slightly sweet malt comes in. Palate is a hop bite with medium carbonation. Overall, nicely balanced and very good representation from Maine.
Pours a dark ruby red/chestnut brown color with copper colored edges and a frothy, two finger yellowish-beige head that very slowly settles into a thick, lasting cap. Good retention, possibly too much so, with signs of over carbonation. The pillowy foam head takes forever to settle and coated the glass with soapy lacing on the way down.
Dank, floral aroma with a prominent earthy hop presence that’s countered by a sweet malt backbone. Earthy and spicy with resinous oils, grassy pine, spruce tip and fresh buds followed by subtle tropical fruit and malt sweetness. There’s a touch of grapefruit and citrus zest along with caramel malt, toffee, biscuit and vinous fruit. There’s a stronger malt presence than I usually prefer in hoppy beers but it works really well in the nose of this beer.
Full bodied with a blast of dry, earthy hop bitterness that lingers over the sweet malt backbone into a bone dry finish. Sticky with resinous hop oils, subtle spiciness, grassy pine and earthy, soil-like flavor. Good hop flavor but not as complex as the nose suggests. A bit one dimensional and lacking the citrus/tropical fruit sweetness found in the aroma. Fortunately, there is plenty of flavorful malt sweetness filling this need and balancing things out nicely. Strong caramel malt presence with hints of toffee, biscuit, toast and subtle dark fruit sweetness. Really well balanced and easy to drink with no heat whatsoever. The malt backbone perfectly counters the dry bitterness of the earthy, floral hops. Similar to Zoe but more flavorful and better balanced in my opinion. I could drink several of these in one sitting.
Clear red brown colour, off-white head. Hoppy aroma, pine, fruity hops, toast, bread. Bitter flavour, sweet malts, light red fruits. Bitter finish, bread, caramel.
(from 66cL can @ Milo’s place. Thanks for sharing!)
Nice rich amber color with a rocky beige head. Aroma of hops, citrus juice, sweet caramel malt. Red ales really aren’t my favorite but this one is pretty good.
500ml bottle shared by Bvery...thanks! Cloudy amber pour with minimal head. Minimal hop and malt aroma. Taste is in your face hops but finishes really nice. Good stuff.
Bottle. Murky amber pour with a soapy rocky head. Hop forward - earthy, some pine. A bit dank. Amazing amber.
On the side of the bottle reads "042815."
This was poured into a nonic pint glass.
The appearance was a two finger white foamy rocky head that dissipated in about a minute and a half. Light stringy lacing sticks in a semi-thick sort of fashion.
The smell starts off with a citrus zest with the citrus rind running over top of a light caramel presence. Its there for the style but doesn’t show a whole lot of depth.
The taste is mainly bitter through the citrus zest and rind. Sweet is only there to balance in the caramel, but even that isn’t exactly balanced once again. Bitter citrus aftertaste that leads into a sliding bitter citrus finish.
On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a decent sessionability about it. Carbonation packs enough sharpness but still allows the bitterness to display most of the sharpness.
Overall, for an American Red/Amber ale, this one is a bit more hoppier than others. Might not necessarily be a session beer, but more likely one just to enjoy as is.
bottle provided by French Frey .. . pours a dark amber .. medium head, strong lacing .. . what’s italy? .. . red malt, borgoune, and reduced pancake syrup .. . mouth is fine, as is the finish .. a decent amber .. . . paul oakenfold, exclusively on radio one.
Bomber fun whole foods. Really nice looking amber red with very little carbonation but a gigantic head. Smell is hop forward, a bit different than you?d expect considering the look. It takes minutes for the head to dissipate. Aroma is pineapple and citrus. Mouthfeel is a bit off for me. It?s a bit thick. Not enough carbonation for me. The taste is ok. Some caramel at the end. I don?t love this one, but it gets the benefit of the doubt because of the brewery.
Solid red ale, has a nice malt structure and when you can get it fresh, the hops come through nicely.
bottle. amber red with one finger head. malty caramel base, lightly sweet with a fruity nature. medium hops with mild bitterness. excellent.
I’m not a big fan of reds. This one is fairly hoppy. Moderate malt. Great color.
A very tasty red with great hop notes. Slightly bitter but good palate of honey and butterscotch. Pours a deep reddish brown.
Draught at Meadhall, 4/9/15
Clear auburn-magenta colored body looks very appealing, topped by a beige head that is well-retained.
Pine, iced tea, candied oranges, white grapefruit and wintergreen in the nose all speak to the specialty malts (must be crystal...and yes, I see that is the case looking at the commercial description) mixing with the aggressive citrus and pine of the columbus hops. A bit of odd buttercream-like note with warming, which I dont think is diacetyl but rather some odd aromatic from one of the malts. No alcohol in the nose.
Bitter up front; very much so. Resin and dry grapefruit/orange rind immediately assert themselves while the classic this-is-why-you-shouldnt-put-crystal-malts-in-an-India Pale ale effect is immediately felt; that being an iced tea-like flavor with a very hard, (think hard candy texture, like a jolly rancher) texture to the beer and some toasted malt dryness with a complete lack of balancing sweetness. I’ve been pretty outspoken on not putting crystal malts in an ipa and for that matter, may as well leave out most of the other specialty malts too. Throw in a bit of debittered black malt if you want the color and maybe just a touch of special B if you really want your hop-focused beer to have some weird malt notes that don’t work with the hop flavors....Anyways, back to the beer. It’s massively bitter with no balancing malt sweetness or even a soft texture for the hops to sink in to. As is, it just assaults the palate and the acidity builds up on the finish. Furthermore, despite having amarillo in the hop bill, there seems to be only a passing fruitiness from it that is easily outclassed by the bully that is columbus. While falconers flight has a lot of enjoyable hops in it (simcoe and sorachi ace are awesome), it’s still very high in alpha acids and seems to be abused here, leading to more detrimental acidity and unbalance. In summary, I did not like this beer.
Nice stuff. Full of flavor, with snappy lemon hops. Pours amber red with good head and lacing. Fits in as the light cousin of all their bigger hoppier beers. Tap at Churchkey.
8 oz. draft at Tørst in Brooklyn, New York. The pour is a slight haze orange ruby with a bigger off white head. Great lace left on the glass. The aroma is big and chewy citrus fruit, toast malt and dank. The taste is a clean blend of caramel malt and the juicy big fresh hops. Really delicious. The palate is medium bodied, active carbonation and a clean dry finish. Very impressed with every Maine Beer I have had so far.
Arômes de caramel salé, muscade, orange et poivre. En bouche, goût de caramel, pamplemousse, orange et poivre. La finale est amère, poivrée et courte. On sent des effluves de sucre candi. La texture est liquoreuse et une belle mousse épaisse couronne le liquide.
4 oz taster at Churchkey. Pours a clear dark golden/amber color with a medium plus sized creamy off white head. The aroma and flavor have nice juicy, citrus, grapefruit, toasted malts, grass, decent bitterness and flavor. Soft finish.
Deep ruddy pour, off-white head. Great aroma of earthy malt, mango, guava, grapefruit, herbs and pot. Flavor is grapefruit, dank earth, spice, and pine.
Bottle from Capone’s. Pours turbid ruby with 2-finger, frothy khaki head. Nose is heavy resiny hops, caramel malt, vinous fruit. Tastes hoppy, malty, fruity, well balanced, and delicious.
1100th review!!!. Pours murkey copper-amber with a two finger off white head with excellent lacing. Aroma is of citrus, pine, tropical fruits, toasted bready malts, rains, figs, light dankness, and some light caramel sweet malts. Taste is of fresh citrus, pine, rains, figs, tropical fruits, toasted bread, sweet malts, caramel, herbal hops,and some light toffee. Has a medium body with a pretty creamy mouthfeel and a moderately bitter, semi dry, pretty long finish. Overall, a excellent red IPA that is pretty hoppy, but still has some nice malts in the background.
When you read the description they state it was not just a standard red. It?s more a red ipa. Very good aroma. Nice coloring. Deep hops. Bottle
Pours a dark somewhat cloudy orange. Nice hoppy aroma. Good balance between hop flavor and malt flavor. Very tasty brew!
Not too many breweries make a truly red ale. They tend to be classified as an amber ales or “Red IPA” or American Strong Ale. But with Red Wheelbarrow, Maine Beer Company has succeeded in making a beer that’s neither of those styles and is more of its own thing. Plenty hoppy to be sure, but not extremely so. The palette is pretty well balanced for the most part and it’s drinker-friendly. If only it weren’t so expensive.
I poured a 500ml bottle into a tulip glass. It was bottled on 11/25/14 and cost $7.99 ($0.47 per ounce).
Appearance: Deep shade of burgundy/blood red. Very cloudy body. Pours to a large, tan, foamy head that laces and retains extremely well.
Smell: Fruity scent of berries and citrus; some flowers.
Taste: Berry isn’t a flavor you tend to get in beers that aren’t made with some kind of fruit extract or puree. I do detect a slight strawberry or raspberry quality to this beer, though. I’ll chalk that up to the fairly odd combination of Columbus, Amarillo, and Falconer’s Flight hops. Orange seems to be quite prominent as well. There’s a fairly strong malty presence here; creating for distinct sweetness and minor bready flavor (maybe even some fruitcake). It finishes with an overtly bitter sensation, it’s dry but washes away clean. It’s more than just a solid brew, but not quite to the point of being amazing. Definitely one of the best red ales I can recall having, though.
Drinkability: At 7% ABV, Red Wheelbarrow is a strong beer in the classic sense, but surprisingly light in delivery. The mouthfeel is full, soft, well-carbonated and comfortable. Not refreshing, but in no way a challenge to get down. The alcohol is barely noticeable, though I appreciate the robustness of the palette. Versatile enough to stand up to a meal, but tasty enough to enjoy a single bottle by itself.