UPDATED: OCT 3, 2014 this red ale was a pleasant enough beer, but not the one i voted for. that was due in part to the belgian ipa being very good, and the fact that the rye and hop presence in this beer was too subtle for my taste. lots of tasty malt, but a fairly one dimensional beer. better than quite a few sam adams mass produced beers, though.

Poured a clear red-brown color with a small off-white head. Semi-sweet malty aroma with a mild spice to it. The flavor matched the aroma and over all is fairly bland. Light bodied.

Sample at brewery. Was sample B in their competition. Winner in next sampler package? Amber brown with biege head. Aroma of malt. Tastes semi-sweet wtih a rye taste. Pretty good.

Sample from Sam’s in Durham. Pours rich brown with reddish tint and light beige head. Nose is sweet dark malt, and a hint of spicy rye. Taste is similar, but after the first kick of rye malt, the taste practically turns to water. I think they forgot the hops.

Sampled, Copper pour with a aroma of rye, spice sweetmalt. The flavor was pretrty much the same with bready under tones. It was ok.

sample from the longshot tasting- Didn’t get much of a sample but I definitely taste rye, but the aftertaste is questionable, just a so so beer, hopefully it does’t win.

Sample from 12 oz bottle. Nose is malty, grainy, caramel, cinnamon, floral. Pours copper with a medium dissipating head and good lace. Taste is bittersweet. Medium carbonation. Not bad, but I favored Sample A in this competition, the Belgian IPA.