Moerlein Over-The-Rhine (OTR) Ale

Moerlein Over-The-Rhine (OTR) Ale

Cincinnati-based Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. will introduce its latest brand extension - Moerlein Over-the-Rhine Ale - on April 25, 2007. Moerlein OTR Ale was initially going to be called Moerlein Pale Ale, but Hardman said he decided to name it OTR Ale instead, in part as a tribute to the many people who are working to revitalize the long-neglected community just north of Cincinnati’s central business district. The beer is of the type that early brewers in Over-the-Rhine would have made in the era before modern refrigeration, he said. The recipe includes plenty of hops, which acted as a preservative, and lots of malt to balance the bitterness of the hops.


Christian Moerlein
3.3
166 reviews
Cincinnati, United States

Community reviews

2.8 Pretty solid beer. Not really special but still a very drinkable beer. A little bit of a lingering after taste.
2.8 ペールエール 香ばしい麦の香りが特徴的 苦味と甘みは控えめ
3.6 Bottle. Bready caramel malt and fruity hops aroma. Clear copper with a large off-white head. Follows the nose -- bready caramel malt and slightly spicy fruity hops flavor. Medium creamy body, moderate carbonation. Really quite nice.
3.2 Bottle from a 6-pack purchased at Wal-Mart and drank in our hotel room in Cincy. Amber appearance, bit of white head. Grass, sugar, caramel aroma. Nicely balanced. Nothing fantastic, but nothing to complain about.
3.3 12 oz bottle. Pours a nice, clear deep amber with a small off white head that leaves a fair amount of lacing. Wonderful malty aroma of caramel, cereal, toasted peanuts and hazelnuts, and biscuits. Taste is also malt heavy with caramel, biscuits and wheat up front with peanuts and a bit of spices coming in behind that. Balanced out with a pretty strong earthy hop presence. Long toasty malt finish with a bit of hop bitterness. A bit too heavy on the malt in my opinion. Makes it a little hard to drink. Pretty much overwhelms your taste buds. Not a bad taste, mind you. Just an overabundance of it. Pretty full bodied with slick texture and moderate carbonation. Overall a pretty satisfying beer. Nice balance between hops and malts.
3.5 12 ounce bottle poured an amberish color with aromas of caramel, fresh hops, and some malt. Flavors follow suit, a hopper version of the amber they produce maybe? Solid beer, no real flaws, just bland.
3.5 A mild malty aroma, great bread and malt flavor..m a good beer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3.6 12 oz bottle from a mix 12-pack. This is a fine and fine-looking beer. Deep reddish amber body iscovered by a durable and creamy tan head. Excellent lacing. The aroma and flavor are both less hop forward than the classification as an APA would lead you to expect. In this casee, I think it is due to the larger load of sweet and medium roast malts rather than a shortage of hops. In any case, the beer is sweet up front and only mildly bitter in the aftertaste, with at least as much roast and caramel malt flavor as there is hops (Cascade and Fruggle in this case). Nice mouthfeel, with creamy smoothness and soft carbonation that gives the impression of a full bodied beer.
3.3 Draft. Pours a dark copper with a white head. Smells of berries and jolly ranchers. Tastes fruity and sweet. Is this right? I wonder if they got the wrong tap handle on this...
3.0 Nice. Best beer on tap at taste of Cincinnati. Wifey liked the lager but tasteless to me after OTR.
3.5 bottle. amber with a small white head. very balanced aroma with thickly layered malts and fresh hops. a medium bodied, moderate to highly carbonated palate. some dry astringency in the finish. very malty with bready sweet caramel notes with bittering hops and light lemony finish. almost a meal.
3.9 On tap at the brewpub. Pours a clear orange brown with a thin white head. Aroma of caramel malt, grassy and garlicky hops. Flavor of rich caramel malt up front with a spicy, bitter, and grassy hop finish. Also plenty of toffee and earthy malt. There is both a strong malt and hop presence, with lots of hops in the finish. Solid palate, well balanced, excellent. 8/4/8/4/15 (3.9/5)
3.2 Nearly clear, orange-tea with a whipped, parchment coloured head. Scent is caramel/toffee, grain. Taste is sweet malt, grassy hops. Slightly too sugary. A little out of step with the hops.
3.4 Aroma is heavy, almost barley wine like caramel malts and mild sweetness. The flavor is caramel malts, light citrus, medium sweetness and a mild bitterness in the finish. Didn’t really get much of an APA out of this, more like a light barley wine.
4.0 Bottle and tap. Nice caramel/copper color. Very upfront hoppy scent. Malt flavor is noticeable, but it’s the hops that really shine in this one.
3.3 Bottle purchased at Kroger Polaris. Clear amber pour with a medium beige head. Malty nose with grassy hops and some pine. Malty flavor with toffee character before a grassy hop finish.
3.8 Pours a clear, deep gold with a thick, frothy head that stays. Strongly floral aroma. Full but effervescent mouthfeel. Brutally hoppy flavor, as the description promised. Great representative of the style.
3.9 Good. Beer.
3.2 Bottle to pint. Looks alright; dark for a pale ale though. Smells a little malty and unrefined. Tastes pretty good; definitely the beer’s best attribute. Sweet, caramel, and malt with some hops in there too. Average on the palate. Not bad.
3.8 Tasted this at the 2012 Brew Week in Athens, Ohio. Pours clear copper with a thick white head. Has a caramel and bread aroma. Medium sweetness with a hint of bitterness. Medium body with a nice creamy, frothy texture. Very interesting beer and very enjoyable.
3.4 Bottle at Ohio Brew Week...orangish amber in color with little to no head. Aroma is mostly of carmel malts. Taste is of roasted malts, carmel, toffee, with a hoppy bit of bitterness in the finish. Reminds me of a barleywine. Descent brew.
3.1 pours a clear amber with a slightly off white head. Aroma- clean and bready yeast, no hops stick out. Flavor is malt heavy with a little hop bitterness that really balances out the flavor. This is a very well done pale ale with a nice clean fruity ester, not a very bitter ale,
3.3 Poured from a 12 ounce bottle. This is a fruity pale ale. The malts are sweet and chewy. Amber hue, not very clear. Dry finish.
4.1 Great American Ball Park. Great taste, great balance. Could drink a case. At a Reds game, rain delayed, it tasted like a home run.
3.1 Originally reviewed: 6/9/10. Grabbed a bottle of this at Wolf’s Premium Nuts and Wines in Findlay, OH. 12oz bottle poured into a pint glass. Pours a very dark amber. Much darker than expected. A big frothy off-white head caps this off. Decent retention; leave some pretty sip rings and sticky lace. Scents of toasted caramel, sweet tea, and fresh toffee. Different. The body on this crisp, but it’s a tad heavy. The flavor profile of this beer is much maltier than expected. Lots of caramel sweetness, some tea, and a little charring on the finish. Hop presence is surprisingly absent. Bitterness is moderate. This is odd. I guess I’m probably pushing the limits on the the freshness of this bottle (as spring-releases are probably released in the winter), so I could expect the hops to fade. But upon further inspection of other reviews, this seems to be the norm for this beer. I most likely wouldn’t chase this one down, but it still was an ok beer.
2.7 Pours amber to copper with white head and minimal lace. Nose is sour with slight biscuity malt. Medium on the tongue with prominent sour hoppy flavor slightly balanced with biscuity malt, metallic tang, and resinous hops.
3.5 12 oz. Clear copper with a lasting creamy quarter inch of foam. Nose is toffee, dark fruit and spicy banana. Taste is similar, but has a healthy dose of earthy citrus and woody hops to balance. Medium body is extremely smooth, smoothly carbonated, well balanced and surprisingly, seems to show some alcohol warmth. This one is really different from most APAs out there, almost seems like a ESB, and is by far the best beer I have sampled from this brewery.
2.7 A clear amber color with little head, this one has relatively little smell. It’s got a decent hoppy taste to it and comes off very light with little aftertaste.
3.1 12 oz bottle pours amber with a off white head. Aroma is of yeast and sweet fruit. Taste is floral hops, malt and a subtle sweetness.
1.5 From a bottle poured into a pint glass. Light cloudy tan, with a weak aroma. Weak tasting beer with a strong aftertaste. It?s not likely to make the rotation.