Rua Seol
Boathouse Brothers Brewing Company

Quite a dark brown-black color, surprisingly dark, from the front; clear dark ruby red with a back-light, under a 1/2 inch off-white-to-tan thick head. The head recedes moderately quickly. The color is more stout-like than red ale-like, but nice looking anyway. Moderate lacing as you drink.

Aroma is musty and sweet. Scents of leather and tobacco.

Taste is as the aroma: musty, peat, leather, tobacco, and slightly sweet initially. This transitions to a finish with bitterness building to balance, ending in a relatively dry and quite bitter aftertaste. The peaty-tobacco overpowers throughout. While the listed ABV is just a bit on the strong side for the style, the alcohol is well hidden. The aftertaste lingers quite a while; musty, peaty, tobacco, and bitter.

Mouth feel is moderate-to-thin, decent carbonation.

Overall, if you accept it for what it actually is, an OK tasting, malty and peaty-tobacco ale with a surprisingly bitter finish. However, it calls itself an Irish Red, and the peaty-tobacco dominates and just seems out of place. Definitely, not my favorite.

I really liked this strong irish Red Ale. Malty with typical Irish malt and yeast components. Subtle hoppiness helps to ease the sweet malt. I thought this was the best beer I had at their taproom.