Lanigan's Irish Ale
Brewsters Brewing Company & Restaurant - Eleventh Avenue

 

 

 

 

Tried an industry pint at Brewster's Calgary Crowfoot location. A reddish bronze brew with pretty minimal beige head. The taps at Brewster's often fall flat in the latter regard. Oh well. Aroma is toasty, fruity, and mildly herbal, with some bubble gum and banana peel esters, caramel malt, and a whiff of citrus rind discernible. Palate is quite crisp, dry, and toasty, with some burnt toffee, cacao powder, dry biscuit, nut shells, and dark bread crust notes. Quite thin-bodied and rather prickly at first, did smooth out over time and became more pleasant as the temperature rose (serving this sort of brew in an ice-caked glass is not a good move). Finishes dry, with some lemon rind and floral English hops providing a fairly unique feature for this style. Not bad by any stretch of the imagination, although I've had Irish ales with more of a tea-like tannic character that I appreciate. This one is toasty, arid, and a tad coarse.

A - lightly cloudy red-brown, creamy head retained at a decent covering
S - strong butterscotch, fresh cream, light leafy hops, all very rich aromas
T - roasty malt base with butterscotch sweetness, the dry leafy hops balance the richness well
M - creamy smooth with decent carbonation, finishing creamy and dry
D - impressed with the richness of flavour and the sweetness, a very smooth drinking brew

It's been a while since I used to put these back after soccer practice in Edmonton's West End a number of years ago. Time to see what that was all about, oi?

An Imperial pint of this beer sits on the bar in front of me, and appears a clear, and very dark bronzed amber colour, with two fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and somewhat creamy off-white head, which leaves a bit of undulating coral reef lace around the glass as it slowly ebbs away.

It smells of very mild roasted caramel malt, some biscuity toffee, indistinct dark orchard fruit, a slight earthy nuttiness, and further plain leafy, weedy, and floral hop bitters. The taste is sweet bready and caramelized malt, a waning white crackery biscuity thing, suggestions of nuts better spent elsewhere, subtle dark orchard fruit, and more plain earthy, leafy, and sort of wet grassy hoppiness.

The carbonation, she's a bit on the high side of things, what with that overwrought but still engaging frothiness, the body a decently heavy middleweight, and mostly smooth, nothing really taking charge of messing with the base metrics here. It finishes off-dry, sort of, as it appears that more of that crazy old-world maltiness insists on lingering.

Overall, I found this to be a tad cloying, but not in a particularly bad sense - it was surely OK for the one large serving, but I think that my idea of Irish ale attributes, and related subsequent apres-whatever tastes may have moved on - for better or for worse. Maybe if they ever bottled this stuff, I could happily add it to my yearly St. Paddy's Day stew, yeah?

Lanigan's is on sale weekly, so have had it a number of times, but this is the first time to actually sit down and review it.
Color is deep and dark, seems more brown thann red/amber. Arrived with a thin cap of beige head. Smell has some caramel malt and a touch of hop bitterness. As the glass warmed up, could even get a bit of roasted or chocolate. The flavor is qiute full of caramel malt. It finishes with some clean hoppiness, but personally wanted more 'bite' in the end. Little carbonation makes it smooth and creamy. An okay Irish Red, and works as a sessional for me.

Drinkable amber irish ale, with hops and bitterness. Fresh and creamy mouthfeel, maybe from the yeast, not overcarbonated this one. Well malted, and a tad roast. Like a cross between a brown and an irish red. Worth a try. Bitter finish and medium mouthfeel.

This is a deep amber colour, served with a thin creamy head. There is a bit caramel malt on the nose, followed by crisp hops. The flavour profile is mostly malt, with some buttery caramel, and a clean hop finish. Smooth mouthfeel possessing some carbonation. An okay Irish Red, not my favorite of Brewsters line-up, and not as comparable to Big Rock's McNally's Extra Ale (same style), it contains all the factors for a decent Irish Red, it just doesn't follow through with enough character, it seems subdued. Pretty average overall.