I've let this go long enough, here are some tasting notes. This is the second bottle.
1 lb US 2 row
1 lb Victory
1 lb Crystal 60
0.4 oz Fuggles
Mashed at 155F
US-04 from a previous brew
Brewed: 12/1/2012
Bottled: 1/13/2013
Tasted: 2/24/2013
OG: 1.071
FG: ??? Not a big enough batch to waste on readings.
Pours a deep red-brown with a light tan head. The head is super thick with large bubbles that collapse into a creamy head after a few minutes. The head sticks around forever.
Aroma smells like freshly cooked pancakes. I can't get past the pancakes to smell anything else. Not a bad aroma.
Tastes sweet but not in an overwhelming way. Unlike any commercial beer or style I've tried. There's a hint of the brown tangy-ness in the back, but the beer is mostly sweet and malty. Hops present, but not noticeable.
Medium mouthfeel - this isn't an imperial stout, and it isn't a watery light beer. It's somewhere in the middle, like a larger Irish red. Carbonation is about right (I think I used 1 oz corn sugar / roughly 1 gallon batch).
It's not good enough that I'll make it again, but it's no worse than mediocre. It's certainly not as bad as people thought it would be. A more experienced brewer might be able to modify the recipe into something interesting. I'm no hop head, but a slightly larger hop addition would be a good start; I feel that the beer is slightly out of balance toward maltiness.
I will note that the first beer was sampled several weeks ago and it was terrible. Maybe it was just my taste buds that day, since my fiancee didn't think it was as bad as I did -- or maybe it needed some extra time in the bottle.