Conway's Irish Ale
Great Lakes Brewing Co.

This one was a no brainer for a St. Patty's day sixer. Solid malt base with good balance and above average abv. Nose is expressive but clean and the aftertaste has legs. I am not sure if I can find this year round but you could certainly do much worse.

 

12oz bottle bb 4/4/23 poured into a tulip pint glass at fridge temp 6.3% ABV. The beer pours reddish amber with khaki colored head. The head recedes to a splotchy ring and single layer of bubbles. The aroma is mild with sweet caramel and toasted malt. The taste is more of the same with toasted malt and minimal bitterness. Mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, good for a style I'm not wild about.

Appearance: Pours a completely clear, medium bronze, deep golden, to brown color with a mild tan head. SRM of 14-15. (3.75)

Aroma: Mild aromas of bread, amber malt, a faint honey sweetness. (3.50)

Flavor: Strong flavors of bread, caramel, some red Amber note. Some dark caramel and even into molasses. Some honeyflower lingers off the end. (4.00)

Feel: Medium-bodied, leans sweet. (3.75)

Compared to Titletown Johnny Blood Red 3/2023: Pours lighter, stronger aromas. More dark caramel, molasses. Less amber malt. Sweeter.

Compared to Saugatuck Maggie's Irish Ale 3/2023: Pours darker, milder aromas. More caramel, molasses, honeyflower. Less cherry, berries, citrus. Similar floral notes and sweetness

Overall: Pretty decent Irish Red here. Nice honey and floral flavors. Leans sweet with a touch of amber notes. Not my favorite style and not quite as good as some other Great Lakes beers, but still pretty darn good. (Rating: 3.79)

 

 

You need to taste it to believe it. Malt development is unbeatable and delicious.

Poured from 12 oz bottle into pint glass. 1" beige head drops quickly, mild lacing. Color is clear copper. Aroma of rich roasted malt, some fruity and earthy hops. Mouthfeel is light-to-medium and frothy with a drying finish. Flavors of caramel, toffee, medium roasted barley, yeast rolls, earthy and fruity hops. Overall: excellent

 

 

A terrific example of an Irish Ale. Malty, toasty, and a nice bite. Another winner from Great Lakes.

12 ounce bottle poured into a nonic pint glass.

Very clear rich looking reddish copper. The half inch tan head recedes to a ring inside of a minute, but the ring remains for the duration of the glass.

Nice doughy malt aroma. Flavor is more toasted malt with earthy hops. The full malt semi-sweet flavor drys a bit by the finish. Hop bitterness is mild. Body approaches medium weight and is smooth and a little creamy all the way through.

Traditional, not fancy, but very good. A pleasure to drink. I definitely want a second.

 

 

 

1/2024 Vienna Walmart

 

 

 

 

Look: It pours copper with a white head. Head retention is low.

Smell: It has caramel aromas with a bit of toffee.

Taste: It has toffee flavors with a bit of caramel. There are some grainy sweet aspects to it. There is a bit of a bitter with with roast.

Feel: It has a medium light body with a medium bitter finish.

Overall, sweet throughout the taste with the bitterness coming in at the finish.

 

 

 

Pours a nice clear copper with a medium head and persistent lacing. Smell is caramel malt. A little toastiness. Taste is likewise nice and malty. Caramel and toasted malts. Not sweet and well balanced. There's a good lingering subtle grassy hop bitterness in the finish. Medium bodied- some carbonation. A little heavier than you might think at first. Very pleasant malty beer.

Nice and toasty with robust grain flavors and plenty of caramel notes. Medium to full mouth feel. A really enjoyable beer. This one is my go-to Irish red. If that's what you're after then this is the beer you're looking for.

12oz bottle enjoy by date 4/4/22 into a pint glass.
L: Pours clear reddish amber w/a 3/4" light khaki head that recedes quickly to thin edge foam. Light carbonation. No lacing whatsoever.
S: Malts, caramel candy, subtle yeast, gently earthy.
T: Rich malt, caramel, light toffee, a suggestion of brown bread. Gentle sweetness & lightly floral.
F: Soft, slick, smooth, subtly creamy & sort of thick (almost syrupy) medium heavy bodied mouth feel with a clean semi-fast finish.
O: I find this beer to be rather boring and disappointing. It is far too malty. This brewery makes much better examples of other beer styles. It's Okay.

I poured a Conways' Irish Ale into a pint glass. A gorgeous coppery red libation rose under a two-inch head, which all but dissappeared within a few minutes. The beer had just enough carbonation to sustain light lacing. The nose was pleasant... earthy, with yeast and hops beneath the malt and understated holiday spicing of cinnamon and nutmeg. It is a mix of some complexity, modestly sweet, with a finely balanced taste. It's a bit like a light Christmas brew, or a lightly spiced shadow of a maibock. It warms the tongue and body, yet leaves very little aftertaste, which makes it quite refreshing for a holiday spiced beer, and overall enjoyable. The mouthfeel is a touch on the light side, which is not a detriment. I'll cellar a few of these, and have them periodically during spring and summer. This is another compelling brew from Great Lakes, which does wonderful things with stouts, porters, and ales.

Rich amber - red brew, looks is fantastic. modest head, decent lacing

Smells Of fresh bread, toffee, orange

Caramel malt, brach’s fruity chew variety, dark grape, plum juice, middle of the road carbonation. Wonderful slight sweet hop finish - American influenced perhaps. Almost a desert feel, but taste is a delight. And nice balance.

Full bodied ale with hefty flavor.

Another fine beer from Great Lakes. Full-bodied. Complex flavors. 6.3 abv is perfect.

 

 

At Party Town

 

Two brown bottles stand empty. Their contents now temporarily reside in a clear glass liter mug. The color is a bright bronze-amber, more translucent than opaque. A thin off-white head sits on top, but it's getting thinner quickly. The aroma is far from intense, but what's there seems mildly hoppy, a bit yeasty and more malty. The taste comes with a solid mouthfeel, likely from the barley malt and yeast.The malt also out performs the hopping across the tongue. The result is a reasonably sweet malted ale that drinks very easily. It does lack some of the earthiness found in the style, especially those actually from Ireland. Still, there's enough full flavor for an enjoyable drink. This would likely pair very well with spicy foods or aged cheeses. No glass lacing to inspect and no taste of its ABV, just slightly above most in the category. Bottoms line, it's a nice version of the style

 

A very faint smell of wet bread yeast and hops could be detected if I huffed at the top of the opened bottle. A quick pour generated a finger of cream-colored had that rapidly decreased over the course of a minute. Transparent copper filled the rest of the glass; I'm not surprised at the copper since there's one on the label (yes, I'm here all week). More citrus was present wafting off the glass, Some sweetness first hit the tongue, giving way to a slightly burnt astringency and bitterness. Mouth feel was dominated by that astringency. For some reason - maybe the color - sucking on a cold penny came to mind, and it does have a certain metallic nature in the taste. Overall, kind of meh.

Poured a nice but just vaguely red amber color. Really enjoy the malt flavors and biscuit attributes but I don't have much else to compare this too still.


One bottle poured absolutely no head at all and was carbonated like pop. So that's awk. Must have happened during travel somehow. Having this on tap is EXCELLENT


Dude beer is so weird. Having this now in 2023 and im thoroughly bored with this offering.

A mostly exceptional beer that falls slightly short due to a soda water mouthfeel and CO2 flavor. It becomes more noticeable after each sip.