"Jessica & Brendan's" Bridal Ale
Moylan's Brewery

 

 

Deep gold with a medium off-white head that steadily shrinks to a foamy ring and leaves no lace, this is probably more accurately an American pale ale or golden ale. This is also true of the taste.

Aroma is very strong cooked barley at first, too strong, and morphing into an odd fermented pineapple aroma with dust. Overall, it is not very pleasant and quite one-dimensional.

Taste is similar, faint, barely discernable taste of grain up front before the same odd, cooked old barley and fermented pineapple character hits the back of the throat. This then subsides somewhat to be joined by very light, bland grapejuice/biscuity sweetness and a faint veggie-leafy bitterness with a very faint hint of lemon, almost not detactable. Aside from the overly pungent, odd barley-pineapple character, it is decent but very bland and one-dimensional. Feel is good, engaging, lively, with just a nice amount of carbonation for what it's supposed to be.

Recieved from fairbrook in the NOOB BIF (round 2) in a bit of thoughtful consideration as I was a week out from being married. Consumed on my honeymoon.

A - Golden color with a little bit of brown, two finger white head that receded with a fair amount of lacing.

S - Very grassy and farmy, with some potato/yam thrown in the mix. There is a present carmel flavor and some odd spice.

T - Interesting beer, actually thing this might be appropriate for a wedding reception. Caramel and barley malts are the dominant flavor, along wiht some farmy yam taste and some light spice. Finishes slightly bitter.

M - Medium bodied and a little bit bubbly.

D - Feels like it has more heft than it's 5% would indicate. It's an easy enough to drink beer, but nothing special.

Bridal Ale; July 24, 2010; Clear orange amber with a nice thick white head that quickly fades to nothing. Nose is big apricot fruity esters and with undertones of sweet candi sugar. Mouthfeel is thin and watery but likely meant as a session beer, wedding drink, low alcohol so I get it's purpose. Idea is very cool; label is very cool but beer tastes a bit like strong water. Elegant carbonation but not anything with character. Found on sale for $2.99 and couldn't pass it up....you should unless you're really thirsty and can't find a bottle of water. Not bad, just not good and doesn't taste like beer. Just my opinion.

22 oz. bottle,

A: Pours a light amber, light head, fair retention, no lace.

S: Soil, cooked green vegetables, not inviting.

T: Fairly innocuous malt, some nice sweetness. But still that dirty hop flavour is there, so it's not an enjoyable beer.

M: Best part of the beer, light-bodied, light carbonation, pretty nice.

D: July 24, 2010 is the date, only a week before my sister's wedding. $3.39 a bomber is very inexpensive, and I like Moylan's so this was a no brainer to pick up. But frankly, it's not a very good beer. The malt is OK, the hops suck and have nowhere to hide. Drank it pretty much side by side with Anchor's Humming in a similar style which blew it out of the water. I wish Jessica and Brendan all the luck and happiness in the world, but this was not good.

Sigh...If you're going to add a beer to the database, at least do a little research 1st. This is a golden ale, not a red ale, as per the Moylan's website, and it certainly presents as one. Brewed for the wedding of Brendan Moylan and Jessica McDonald, this is a wedding beer- which translates to session beer (at least the American version of session beer for our friend Ding). Golden's aren't my favorite style, but I see the purpose in this one, and it certainly is fresh and fairly tasty. Supposedly, "floor malted barley" was used in the beer. Now, I'm not an expert on malting, but it does seem that there is a fresh, almost grassy graininess that marries well with the grassy, slightly fruity, and mellow hops. There is a freshness here, similar to what I find in a lowland whisky, with clean, appetizing grainy malt notes. The hops are very subtle, but clean and grassy and slightly floral, and remind me of springtime. It's certainly a light beer, although it pours a fairly dark golden. It really reminds me of what a good small beer should taste like (and which most small beers don't achieve)- grassy, and almost a barley wash, with low alcohol and some light fruitiness to add interest. If someone served this to me at a wedding, I'd be very happy. Congratulations to the bride and groom!

Wow, the label is dated July 24, 2010...That makes this about 6 days old...Pours a clear amber, with little or no head. No lace. Nose is very malty - a little pear in there and some hops but mostly barley. A little one dimensional in the aroma, frankly. Flavor is a disappointment. Starts off very crisp, but it's almost a light beer in its mouthfeel. The initial malt burst is quickly washed away by the thin and largely watery finish. Painfully poor effort, in my opinion. At $3.49/22oz. bomber it's not even worth it.