Irish Red Ale
Blue Heron BrewPub

Sampled at the brewery and then tasted formally at home. I poured it from the growler into a pint glass. It pours a moderate brown with no sediment. A quick 2+ inch head forms and quickly reduces to a almost full coverage lacing.

The aroma is a bit unusual to me, primarily consisting of dirt and some sweet maltiness in the background.

The taste is a bit weak. It has notes of caramel malts and some earthy tones. Minimal hops presence. Not much else.

The mouthfeel shows a medium body but not a lot of stiffness. The carbonation seems a bit low for the level of head. It is reasonably smooth, but not much else as a very minimal bitterness lingers on the upper palate. Kind of creamy.

Overall, this is a fair beer. This brewery makes many others that are quite a bit better. It does not quite get to where it needs to be in the flavor or aroma and although it is decent, it could be better. A worthwhile try if you like irish reds and are looking for something different.

Reviewed from notes. The appearance was a semi-dark copper color with an off white foamy head that slowly dissolved. Spider web lace. The aroma had a clean sweet caramel/toffee malt, some cherry sweetness, floral hop character and a little bit of earthy/herbal hoppiness. The flavor was moderately sweet with a little bit of red delicious apple coming in for a decent blend. Aftertaste was semi-sweet along with the finish. The palate was between light and medium bodied with a pretty good sessionability about it. Carbonation felt fine. ABV felt fine. Good smoothness along my tongue. Overall, I think I liked this one for me as it really wasn’t much of an Irish red. Sure is different if anything.