Brewery: Mendocino Brewing Company, Ukiah, CA
Brewery Description: “We bottle condition most of our ales. This is a process whereby active yeast is introduced to the beer as it is bottled, initiating fermentation in the bottle. This produces a fruity bouquet, a rich complex flavor profile and a crisp, dry finish. It is this complexity which has resulted in Red Tail Ale being called ‘a beautifully balanced, substantial ale’ by the renowned beer and food writer Michael Jackson. Red Tail Ale is an amber ale brewed in a traditional Old World Manner using premium two-row malted barley, hops, our own special proprietary yeast strain and pure water. Red Tail Ale’s recipe calls for generous amounts of Pale and Caramel malt balanced by whole Cascade and Cluster hops, this makes it the substantial, full-bodied amber ale that has over the years become THE LEGEND.”
Brew Style: Amber, 6.1% ABV
Recommended Glass: English pint, Shaker
The Ugly Truth: So I didn’t like Eye of the Hawk and I had decided to give Mendocino Brewing Company a chance to redeem themselves, and they failed miserably. I agree with their description, this beer is truly legendary.
And by that, I mean truly legendary in its degree of suckdom. There are black holes on the edge of space which suck less than this beer. And again, I appear to be at odds with the rest of beer drinking world on this, but if I must stand alone, I will stand and be the sole voice of opposition. This is undoubtedly the worst amber I’ve ever tasted. This is a Brew of Death, plain and simple. It was a fresh six pack and already tasted skunky. The taste was just bland, with no bite and the after taste tasted like…well I don’t want to say because I don’t want BostonGeek getting sued for slander and sanctioned by the FCC. I really just did’t like it and don’t plan on drinking anything from this brewery again, but everyone needs to try for themselves and see.
Verdict: Unfortunately, we don’t have a negative bottle caps rating available, so I’m forced to give Red Tail Ale a 1 out of 10, even though it deserves worse.
I’m not kidding, this stuff tastes like ass.
Red Tail Ale at one time was a great beer. I can remember being on my deck in northern California with a pint of red tail on a sunny day holding up the glass and watching the sun gleeming through its dark red color and thinking - “God it is great to be alive”.
That was back in about 1990 ant that beer was brewed at their original location in Hopland, CA. Since then, they opened a larger brewery further up the road in Ukiah, CA to produce larger quantities. The beer never tasted the same after that. For what ever reason they could never reproduce the original taste and body of that once great beer. They have also purchased a brewery in NY state to serve the east coast.
What a shame,
Dan Campbell
Thank you Dan for commenting. This may explain why so many people gave it great reviews compared to me thinking it was horrible. I’ve heard similiar things from other people about the beer as well lately.
I’m drinking one for the first time right now. And I must say, this tastes like apple juice and old champagne. I can’t put it too words, other than that I find it unpleasant. I got it out of the discount rack at the local liquor world. Now I know why. Sorry guys at Mendocino. I believe that this once might have been a good beer as stated. Cheers
Best I have ever tasted in 67 years.
I’m glad you like it John, it just wasn’t for me.
And now that I’ve done more beers for this review, I probably wouldn’t have been as negative about it in my review. With practice comes wisdom I guess.
How could you not like this beer? You people have no taste!
Sorry bud, it tasted substandard to me.
Went to a birthday party tonight and there turned out to be nothing else to drink except Red Tail Ale since I forgot to bring my own beer with me.
It wasn’t nearly as bad as I remember it being. Still not great, but not god awful. Were I to redo the rating, I’d probably give it a 4 or a 5 instead of a 1.
Still wasn’t a really great beer.
I’m a huge Fat Tire fan, couldn’t find any at the local market, and decided to try the Red Tail Ale– I was very surprised at how good it was! It is a good replacement for Fat Tire.
Really? I think Fat Tire is far superior to Red Tail.