Port Brewing - Shark Attack Double Red Ale

So I know I'm a couple days late, but how awesome is Shark Week? Well, the answer is simple. It's fucking AWESOME!!

I meant to get a review of this up last week but I just got a bit too busy. So tonight I'm drinking a beer with Shark, and what we all hope to see during Shark Week, an attack. That's right, I'm drinking Shark Attack by Port Brewing Company in San Marcos, CA. This is a 9% Double Red Ale. So, I guess it's an Imperial Red ale, probably bordering on red IPA.

So let's cut to the chase and see how the Shark Attack tastes. Let's see if it really is worthy of being considered for Shark Week!

The Shark Attack pours out a really dark ruby red, mahogany color. There was a really fluffy egg shell colored head, about 2 fingers, maybe bordering on 3 fingers worth. The head didn't stick around very long and really didn't leave much lacing behind. There's a decent amount of carbonation coming up off the bottom of the glass. Shark Attack is pretty see through but there's a decent amount of haze on this one. This looks like a really nice Red Ale. Let's get the nose on the Shark Attack.

LOTS of malt character here. Quite a bit of caramel and maybe even some burnt sugar. There's a ton of hop bitterness here as well. Lots of earthy notes, and some floral qualities shining through. I'm getting some dark fruits also. A bit of dark raisin and even some date/fig like characters. Some nice grapefruit as it warms a bit. But honestly, this is a big, malty red ale. Double Red Ale definitely describes this beer well. I'm ready to see if this one has the bite it claims.

First thing I pick up is a lot of caramel malt. Very sweet. That's immediately followed up by a floral, earthy, grassy character. Very bitter. Sides of the palate there's more caramel sweetness paired up nicely with the bitter grapefruit I found on the nose. There's some sugary, bread-like characters coming through. This is very sticky. There's some syrupy, maybe peachy qualities. Unfortunately, not much of that raisin/date character. Not a ton going on. This is incredibly malty. Very, very sticky.

So overall, this is decent at best. It's genuinely a malt bomb. There's good bitterness as well but it's so overpowered by the sheer force of the malts here. This is honestly a syrupy mess. I'd say if you see this and it's cheap, check it out. Otherwise, probably worth avoiding. I've had this on draft before and it was much better (as most beers generally are) but from the bottle, it's a letdown. Not really worthy of Shark Week.

Rating: B-