Tag: review

Beer of the Week 38: Red Seal Ale

North Coast Brewing Company’s Ruedrich’s Red Seal Ale

From the bottle:

Malt & hops are beautifully married in this copper-red pale ale. Generously hopped for a long, spicy denouement. Water, malted barley, hops, yeast & that’s all.

From my notes:

Pinkish rose colored beer with a thick tan head. Smells of malt and hops hints of cherry. Tastes of hops and citrus. Too much bitter on the finish. Very smooth to drink.

It looks pretty in the tulip glass. Though I think ale’s just go into pint glasses.

 

Considering how much I enjoy North Coast Brewing Company’s other beers Ruedrich’s was a let down. It’s a perfectly serviceable Red but seeing how their other beers were so much more than ‘serviceable…’  I need to learn to not let my expectations spoil a beer. Red Ale’s go well with chicken, seafood, and ground beef. A little spice won’t hurt either!

Rating (out of five):

Beer of the Week 37 Lagunitas Pils

Lagunitas’ PILS

From their website:

Czech Style Pilsner. Like Adam and Eve, Issac and Ishmael,Mao and Confuscious, Good and Evil, Day and Night, Hittites and Visigoths, John and Lorena, or Groucho and Moe, Ales and Lagers are as different as can be. Still, we must love each other for who they are, seperately but equally, with liberty, and justice, for all. Cheers!

From my notes:

 Wheat coloring very clear beer. Thin white head. grain, grass, and malt on the nose maybe a hint of citrus. Crisp, crisp finish. medium hop aftertaste. good example of a Pilsner.

It’s a thing of beauty, no?

Pilsners are   fairly light on the alcohol (4.5 to 5.5% ab. They pair really well with lighter foods: chicken (okay to spice it up), sandwiches, and seafoods. Or you can just drink them unaccompanied.

Rating (our of five):

Beer of the Week 36 Ricardo’s Red Rocket Ale

Bear Republic’s Red Rocket Ale

From the bottle:

Red Rocket Ale is a bastardized Scottish style red ale packed with distinctive flavors and an aggressive hop character rivaled by none. This unfiltered, bottle-conditioned, amber colored ale, breaks all style molds.

From my notes:

Dark, dark auburn color. No head. hops, pine and citrus on the nose. The taste matches the nose pretty close, hops come in early and intensify through the finish. This isn’t an IPA but definitely hoppy, some subtle toasted malt flavor in there, not as much as I’d like brown sugar. I could taste the alcohol in this one.

Not a good picture but I wanted to show you how red this ale is.

I know, I know I served it in the wrong glass. I don’t have the correct type and all my pint glasses were dirty. Anyway, this is another beer that goes great with just about anything: chicken, burgers, seafood, spicy food as well. Try pairing it with stuff with a little tang. I know the brewer’s say that this is a riff on Scottish Ale but Scottish ale’s have a more robust flavor and quite a bit less hop… Decent drinking!

Rating (out of five):

Beer of the Week 35 Red Rice Ale

Kiuchi Brewery's Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale

From their website:

Complex sake like flavors with malt sweet notes. Hints of strawberries in the nose and palate. An intriguing mix of sake, malt , and bitter notes in the finish.

From my notes:

Light rose-ish colored beer with a peach colored head. Not a lot on the nose, subtle some sweetness maybe some malt? Taste is just as hard to describe as the smell. Crisp and fresh with some spice and again the taste that I can’t describe, this must be the rice! Smooth with a mild hop finish.

It really does look beautiful in the glass!

Red Rice Ale is a Belgian Strong Pale Ale and that shows in the spice of the beer and the 7.00% ABV. This beer would go well with beef: burgers, meat pies, etc. Just take it easy as you don’t want to be drinking two or three of them in short order. The hops in the Pale Ale are well balanced with the subtle sweet fruit flavor and what I’m thinking is the red rice flavor that I couldn’t quite describe. A good beer but one I’m having a hard time fitting in with anything.

Rating (out of five):

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