Spring Shred Red Session Ale
Fernie Brewing Co.

 

 

I must admit, I have a thing for reds. And ski towns. And spring skiing. So, a collaboration betwixt FBC and Whistler is definitely intriguing. I had high hopes for the Spring Shred and I was not disappointed. It looks great, with a lovely puffy head, deep brick red, and the overall sense it is a well-crafted brew. The addition of the hops provide a nice piney bitterness that really complements the overall product. Well played, BC ski town breweries, well played.

 

Appearance - Pours a copper red with two fingers of frothy off white head.

Smell - bready caramel malts, toffee, dark fruits, and earthy and leafy hops.

Taste - Bready caramel malts and toffee upfront. The dark fruits and earthy/leafy hops come through in the end.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes off dry with the malts lingering. The hops linger as well to let the brew know that they are there.

Overall - An easy to drink red ale that delivers on the malts as the style dictates. The hops are a nice addition to this sessionable ale. Another successful brew from the folks at Fernie.

650ml bomber poured into tulip 4/4/16

A clear ruby red when held to the light, two fingers of tan foam have great retention and leaves a couple thick partial rings

S herbal tea, wet leaves, spice I can't place, nutty hard toffee, some dark bread, maybe some bruised apple

T mimics the nose, herbal hops, leafy, still plenty of malt, decent stuff

M lighter side of medium, lots of bubbles but stops short of foam, slick on the palate, spicy herbal tea lingering

O drinkable and respectable but nothing to really set it apart from the pack, well made but could use a little something

Decent beer but nothing really memorable, perhaps not the beers fault I don't love reds

650ml bottle, a collaboration wherein the brewing boyz from Whistler headed out east to Fernie, to help out their fellow BC mountain town operation.

This beer pours a clear, bright medium bronzed amber colour, with three fat-ass fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and well bubbly beige head, which leaves some sudsy island group lace around the glass as it slowly and lazily recedes.

It smells of gritty and grainy caramel malt, a twinge of biscuity toffee, muddled dark orchard fruit, ethereal earthy yeast, and plain leafy, weedy, and grassy hop bitters. The taste is bready and doughy caramel malt, stale toffee pudding, a hint of free-range ashiness, some underripe apple and pear fruitiness, and more tame earthy, leafy, and dead grassy hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly low-key in its gentle and sometimes lollygagging frothiness, the body a decent middleweight for this sub-style, and mostly smooth, just a bit of indistinct edginess taking the shine off here. It finishes trending dry, as the biscuity and grainy essences seem to have finally bled out.

Overall, one of the better Session Ales that I have yet suffered through - they keep the malt (the focus of any red ale) from springing a gasket, while the hops are just sassy enough to engender another glug. And another. And, well, maybe this old curmudgeon is coming around on the whole 'session' strength thing. Or maybe I just need to get out to the mountains again.