Pumphouse/Redzone Beer Reviews

Last week some friends at work decided they wanted to go grab some beers at one of their favorite watering holes, the Pumphouse Brewery in Longmont.  Seeing that I've just started this little 'project', I figured I was obligated to go!  So I had 3 beers, and tasted 1; they were the Pumphouse Battalion "Extra" Brown, a taste of the Hindenburg Light, the Hot Shots Harvest Ale, and the Shockwave Scottish Ale.  As you might have gathered, a good bit of their beers reflect the breweries 'firehouse' motif in their names.  If you'd like to know more about the place, here's their link: http://www.pumphousebrewery.com/index.html

As for their beers, in general I've found that they have fairly decent ales and lagers.  I'm not overly excited about their brews, but that's not to say I don't enjoy them; the ones below were all deserve a repeat visit (minus one).  Now that I might have bored you...

Pumphouse Battalion "Extra" Brown: At first glance it has a nice deep brown color expected in a brown, and the head was about a quarter inch thick that dissipated fairly quickly.  The aroma was a nice blend of chocolate and coffee which made the upcoming first sip all that much more enticing.  The first flavor to hit my tongue was that of a smooth malty sweetness.  After that the flood of chocolate malts coated the taste-buds.  As expected for a brown, there was very little hop bitterness but there was a nice blend of hop character to balance out the malt sweetness.  Overall, I found this a nice drink.  ABV: 5.8%

Hindenburg Light (taste): I saw this and for some reason felt obliged to taste it.  This one was, as you might have guessed, very light in color, think a cloudy Coors light (yea, not all that pleasant).  There was a nose of bananas, and since it was a taste, I can't really comment on the head/head retention.  There was a slight astringent flavor (possibly over-sparging and/or pH too high).  The best way to equate the flavor of this beer is think of Heineken.  Since I'm not a fan of Heineken, it's no surprise that I'm not a fan of this beer (or any like it). ABV: 5.0%

Hot Shots Harvest Ale: I had just learned about these beers, so I would've done the Pumphouse a disservice had I not at least tasted this one; it's their 'harvest' spin on an IPA.  The color was a nice dark amber but there was a slight cloudiness to it (you Colorado folks think Hazed and Infused).  In typical IPA fashion, there was a nice flowery fresh hop aroma (yes, I shoved my nose down in the glass).  The half inch of head stuck around for a while which was nice; it definitely helped keep that smell around a while.  The first sip gave a good hoppy bitterness that stuck around a while.  A good medium body mouthfeel kept me looking forward to the next sip.  I didn't catch the ABV; my bad!

Here's the Harvest

And last but certainly not least...

Shockwave Scottish Ale: My buddy (who LOVES wild boar hunting) suggested that I try this; it used to be called Kiltlifter Scottish Ale.  Remember how I said they have a firehouse/fireman attachment, there you go!  It had a nice clear, deep, amber/brown color which is already a plus in my book.  The quarter inch head waved it's final good-bye after about 5 minutes.  My first waft of this bad boy was a malty/"strong" aroma; that leads perfectly into the first sip.  Wow, talk about a kick in the mouth, and that's not in a bad way!  You could definitely taste the alcohol, but that quickly dissipated into the nice malty sweetness.  This was a nice beer, but definitely took a bit longer to get through; if you like good STRONG Scottish Ales, then this one should definitely be on your 'to taste' list.  ABV: 7.9%

And the Shockwave

I heard that the Walnut is tapping their Sleddog Red this Thursday (10/7), so I MIGHT just have to check that one out; stay tuned...