Fair Dig
Boise Brewing

I had this beer on tap at the brewery taproom in May 2023. It was a beautiful Irish Red, with amazing ruby color and creamy, thick, long-lasting head. The aroma was faint, but nice for the style. The flavors were malty and spot-on for the style. The mouthfeel was also good for style. This was a very good American-made Irish Red.

 

this one is really robustly flavorful for a style that sometimes lack that, and im not sure its retired, likely just a seasonal for the spring time, still on tap all over town here. it has a deep brick red color, past amber into the darker redder range, pretty tan head on it too with nice retention. aroma is a bit sweet, kilned and concentrated, long cooked, autumnal more than springy, nutty, baked, earthen, and i like that i can get the bready irish ale yeast right there with it. the flavor is sweeter than i want this to be, they could have fermented it down a bit more, but i really like all the malt flavor, bran and dark bread, honey and maple, maybe a little rye in here, i get a cool grainy spiciness, even a little roasted element too, cocoa, toffee, and then the wet doughy yeast which is there all the way through it, definitely irish, some balancing hops there at the end too, just a lot more intensely flavored than is the standard, and i like that in a style like this that can be a little samey and boring. i wish it were drier, but i thought this was a cool and unexpectedly interesting beer that is a nice change of pace. these guys seem to have a pretty good handle on the old world styles.

Slightly smoother, tastier version of Killian’s. Dark brown/amber body with small beige, creamy head. Sweet malt nose, some molasses, taste brings more sweetness, lots of malt, bread characteristics. Good, but not great....

On tap at the brewery last night and at Bittercreek tonight... Pours unfortunately very hazy amber, the head is a proper short-lived off white that shows okay lacing. Nose shows fermented out toffee/caramel and perhaps some grassy hops if I put my mind to it... Flavor is clean and malty with nice dry toast and caramel essence.. Again there may be some grassy/hay hoppiness, but I could be imagining things.. Dry mid-palate toward the finish... Very drinkable.. This is a proper IRA.

As far as straight-up "style guidelines" go, this is really good... Should be much more clear and polished amber/red... But I am impressed.. It has been a while since I've seen a PNW brewer do something as "odd" as an Irish Red and pull it off so well.

3.25/4/4/4/3.75