Beer - #128 - ParrotDog - Bloodhound

ParrotDog - Bloodhound : Brewed by ParrotDog Brewing Ltd.  on twitter as @ParrotDog  - in the style of an  Amber Ale  (!) and they do that in Windy Wellington, New Zealand And this is odd since the label clearly says "Red Ale"

"A grassy NZ hopped aroma featuring a hint of roasted malt is supported by full-bodied, red coloured malt base and a pleasant NZ hopped bitterness to round off. A big, malty red ale uplifted with a generous amount of hop"

It says.

6.3% ABV in a 330ml bottle (1.6 standard drinks).

A big sell then, but they might have the chops to pull it off.

So despite what I read, saying it was nice amber pour, this is in fact a red ale, and has exactly the right colour for it. Despite it having no head :-(  it delivers a fairly notable hop nose and a sweet aroma that not instantly obvious as to what causes it. But then you get it, it's oranges!

So the aroma settles to an orange syrupy affair, which reminds me of the sneaky cake you get with the coffee on occasion (Don't tell MrsPdubyah).

There is a lively hop taste, restrained and not all up in your face, nicely carbonated, it's goodly good is what it is. The sugary aroma though is obvious and I flinched again before I took more, it's that obvious  and loses it appeal.

The aroma is all there is though, I get no orange note on the palate with this, but that does not make it a bad beer. I would imagine that as a summer beer this would hit the mark.

At a 8 on the pdubyah-o-meter I rate this as nicely hoppy and bitter enough, It loses ground because I don't overly care for the aroma that shocks the nose each time it gets close to it, which can't be a good thing. This would stand up to something hearty by way of a food accompaniment adding to something rather than overshadowing it.

A fine effort from the new boys of ParrotDog, I'd give this another go anytime, and  I've got me a DeadCanary to chase this one, and in the unlikely event they ever read this I'd be happy to review and appreciate any or all the beers you produce, for research purposes of course.