Great River Roller Dam Red Ale

Great River Roller Dam Red Ale, Great River Brewery, Quad Cities, USA (Davenport, Iowa). 5.4% ABV, 30 IBU.

Appearance: clear, deep reddish hue, speckled, spotted off-white head, leaving lace.

Aroma: sweet and malty, bready, when a slightly sour twist.

Taste:   bright, shiny malt, just a bit of hops, good balance. Not too malty, medium bodied, good and earthy feel and texture. Stays just short of sweet, has a good edge on it. Just a little bitter, just a touch of sweet and malty.

I respect this one, but it's really not what I go for. Is tasty and drinkable, though. I'd take one any day, but wouldn't go out of my way for one.

Great River Farmer Brown Ale

Great River Farmer Brown Ale, Great River Brewery, Quad Cities, USA. AKA Davenport, Iowa.

rich brown, nearly black, with a thin cocoa toned ring of foam, soon gone.

Aroma: ah, lovely stuff: cocoa, nuts, rich malt, little hints of coffee and toffee, sweet and malty.

taste: More of the same, now in the mouth. A little bit of bitterness bumps up into the sweet malt. The ballet continues, with sweet flavors of mocha and caramel in command. Full-bodied, long, malty finish. Rich and complex, satisfying all the way through.

What do they say? "These days, people are more and more concerned about the food and drink they are consuming, what's in it and what the origins might be. For our Farmer Brown Ale, we use honest, wholesome ingredients like 2-row barley and dark crystal, chocolate and biscuit malt rom people we know and trust. The result is robust, rich and nutty brown ale dominated by a complex malty flavor."

Well put. But, does anyone really say "wholesome" anymore?

Great River Redband Stout with Coffee Added

Here we go, another beer that proves that Iowa doesn't suck. It's just a coincidence that the Mississippi river flows southernly in it's direction. RedBand Coffee Stout from Great River Brewing of Davenport, Iowa, and the notes go here:

Great River RedBand Stout Brewed with Coffee. 

Full-on blackness in this stout. Full head drifts down and departs, finishing as a tight cocoa-tinged ring.

Fresh coffee notes in the aroma, some hints of cocoa, dry and richly roasty.

Taste: Impeccable. Full-bodied, flush with coffee flavor. Long finish. Not a thing lacking in this. What more to say, what to say, what to say…there's a stout, it's full of coffee, the coffee is a little sweet, and a little bitter, and wonderfully balanced. Never too this, not a bit too that. Floats down the throat with ease, only thing to watch out for is the caffeine. Little bit of blackberry and other fruit in the flavor, small sweetness turns dry and roasty with a quickness.

Nothing shy, nothing held back, all good in the neighborhood.