Patina
Storm Stayed Brewing Co.

355 mL can from the LCBO; dated Jan 29 2024 and served slightly chilled.

Pours a crystal clear copper amber colour, producing approximately one finger of foamy, beige-tinged head that vanishes within a minute or two. A thin collar and filmy cap live on, with a scant speckling of lace scattered about the glass in the process. Malt forward aroma of caramel, toasted bread, doughy malts and biscuity sweetness - appropriate, if not literal boilerplate for an Irish red.

It tastes alright - the flavours follow the aroma, with toasted bread, biscuit and caramelized sugars doing most of the heavy lifting; melanoidin is the word of the day. Maybe a teensy bit roasty & nutty on the back end, with more toasted malts and caramel dissipating into a malty aftertaste. Medium-light in body, with gentle carbonation that softly agitates the surface of the tongue; a smooth red ale that goes down easy.

Final Grade: 3.68, a B grade. Storm Stayed's Patina is a serviceable Irish red ale that I could drink again. While I do think this is a fairly forgettable brew, the roasty notes on the back end provide *just* enough personality to bump it up a tier. I'm not sure I'd take this over Smithwick's: while Patina is definitely the better balanced of the two beers, it's also more expensive and not necessarily worth the upgrade IMO. But maybe I'm not an impartial judge here - after all, this is a style that I drink on March 17th and then tend to forget about for the next 364 days.

Jan 5 2025