There are some beer styles that I usually just avoid. Red Ales are one of them. I tried to brew a red ale in my youth, and for some reason since then I just really disliked the style. Not because I did something wrong; in fact, my attempt at brewing a red ale is very similar to all of the red ales I have had in my life.
But sometimes I return to these beer styles, just for the fun of it, or just to change my usual drinking routine up a bit.
And I must admit, the change is as good as a holiday!
This week, I have three red ales for #BeerSaturday, some of them taking me back to my brewing days. Memories are sometimes bitter-sweet. Everytime I am reminded of my brewing days, I long for those early mornings getting the system ready, the smell of the mash tun going, the first sip of the wort or just the general feeling of being in control of your brews...
Alas, I stopped because of droughts in the area, I did not have access to water, and now my brewing setup has gathered so much dust, rust, and my own brain has also rusted over, it is not even worth it to get the system going again... Maybe in the future.
Either way, here is my tasting notes of these awesome red ales!
Darling Brew Gypsy Mask Native/Red Ale
The pour was beautiful, as red ales always have these deep beautiful colours that contrast the with white head. It had good carbonation and nice head but unfortunately it had poor to no lacing as I started drinking it.
The first smell of this beer reminds me of my red ale attempt, causing a flood of nostalgia. It was fruity with a nice balance between bitterness and malt. I associate this with a classic red ale smell, if you have ever had it you will know.
Sadly, the first taste was a bit flattish. It was incredibly smooth though, but not much going on for it. From all of the very good brews coming from the brewery of Darling brew, this is a very average brew. It is very mild subtle fruitiness and red ale taste but toned down.
Saggy Stone Big Red Irish Red Ale
From all three beers, this was my favorite.
It was straight up oats on the nose, incredibly malty. It smells exactly like unmashed grain bill.
The first taste was extremely smooth with fruity hints before the hit of malt. The taste was exactly malt before going into the mash tun. Additionally, it had an almost icecream flavour to it. But there was also a slightly toastedness to it. There was no real bitterness, it was toasted malt all the way.
Shackleton Brewing Co Red Ale
The last one of the three was so similar to the others. But this is not a bad thing. There is after all only so much room for experimentation within a beer style.
It had a good first nice nose. There was a subtle sweetness with beautiful malty notes. Of all the ales, red ales with their prominent maltiness is a great break with some of the hop upfront IPAs.
The first taste was nice and refreshing. It had much more bitterness than the others, but it worked for this beer. It had some caramel malt notes coming through on the taste, but nicely mixed with the slight fruitiness.
Postscriptum, or So Another Beer Gets Thrown Down the Hatch While Another Sun Sets on the Horizon
In the end, we are what we drink. A beer can say something about us. This is some generalisation and stereotyping, but a beer can tell you something about a person.
But also not, because as I noted changing from an IPA or some heavy beers to some lighter malty red ales is a good break from routine. And I appreciate that from beers. If you drink beers across the spectrum of beers, you are in for a fun ride!
In any case, I hope that you had a good couple of beers for #BeerSaturday!
Happy drinking, and keep well.
All of the musings and writings are my own albeit slightly influenced by the beers I drank. The photographs are my own, taken with my Nikon D300.