So I'm catching up with my blog, posting on a few beers that I enjoyed over the latter half of the week and the weekend. I think I had this beer on a Saturday. I had a ton of stouts sitting in the fridge and was really wishing that I had a pale ale on hand. Since the beer was described as a red ale, I figured that it would work. At least it wasn't a porter or a stout. Now as far as what I keep in the fridge, this is my method. I keep eight beers in the fridge, don't bother to reload until I'm down to 3 or 4. Rest of my beers sit in the closet. I just grab randomly and stick them in the fridge, then when I want a beer, I take a look at what I have available and pick from there.
The beer poured a murky amber color with barely half a finger of beige head. Decent retention on the head. The beer looks heavy. I detect aromas of caramel, some vanilla, molasses, raisin, other dark fruits, and booze. I'm not getting the impression that this is a red ale..more like a barleywine.
The beer has a very sweet taste to start. Heavy with the caramel, dark fruit and some oak. Towards the end, a light hop taste appears, but it's hard to pick out with the boozy aftertaste that's much more evident. Yeah, this one tastes more like a barleywine. Heavy body, but lightly carbonated. I honestly couldn't get myself going with this one. I think I'm finding the dark fruit taste to be more off-putting the more I drink it. I let it sit out for a while, and the overpowering sweetness was also a deterrent. I didn't finish the beer, and that's something that rarely happens with me. I figure I just need to work on getting more adjusted to barleywine, much like I got used to IPAs. For now, I have to chalk this one up as a disappointment, especially for the price paid. Agree with me? Think I'm a blithering idiot? Let me know!
Grade: D
Price Paid: $3.80 (12 oz bottle)
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