Retro Red - Ft. Collins Brewery

Ft. Collins Brewery! Welcome to the blogosphere, lad. We're happy to have you here today to help us tap into the beloved red ale style. We've been looking forward to kicking this one off with a bang and we're lucky to have you here with us. What's that you say? You've got a tasty red in the back, held out for just such an occasion? Well played, boy! Let's get to it then!

Appearance: Ruby red and crystal clear, without the head I'd have thought it to be cranberry juice. Three-finger St. Augustine sand colored head that went as fast as it came and left no lacing behind.

Smell: Caramel malt, sliiiiiiight foot skunkiness (I'll disclaim that my sinus congestion may have handicapped me here).

Taste: Kind of citrusy, crisp and present hops. Sweet malt finish and lingering aftertaste. Fuller flavor than expected. Extremely well balanced.

Mouthfeel: Light body, bordering on thin. Good low amount of carbonation that met my desire nicely.

Drinkability: This one is juicy and refreshing. It's not the best red I've ever had, mostly because I'm not keen on citrus, but it's very nice. The balance is better than most reds that I've tried by keeping the malt flavor from weighing down everything else. As the brewery is re-introducing this beer in 2011 as the Red Banshee, I'm certain I'll be trying it again soon and wouldn't stray away from it on tap.
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Links:
Ft. Collins Brewery Retro Red Page
Beeradvocate Page
ratebeer Page

Ol' Red Cease & Desist - Erie Brewing Company

Another Erie Brewing Co. flavor is my feature flavor today. The beer journal proudly welcomes the Scotch Ale, specifically a Wee Heavy for today. Erie comes at you with Ol' Red - Cease & Desist. I selected this one because I tried a taste on tap last week at Stubbies and wanted to get deeper.

*As a sidenote, for the sake of my readership I'm going to try to write my reviews with more brevity and less filler. Maybe I'll take up novel writing to get out my suppressed Hemmingway, but the b.j. will be more brief for at least a hot minute.

Appearance: Poured glistening golden amber. Thin ale-y beige head came and went in a blink, with just a tiny remainder holding on for the duration.

Smell: Light nose of mostly caramel malt and a little alcoholic sting.

Taste: Surprisingly rich creamy caramel malt flavor. Tiny bitterness hidden by mild caramely sweetness. A fairly simple flavor hangs nicely with some alcoholic warming effect from the 10.1% ABV. Somewhat dry finish for the style, leaves on a refreshing note.

Mouthfeel: Creamier than it looked on the pour. It has the thinness of an ale but sticks nicely around the palette. 

Drinkability: I rather enjoyed this one. For 10.1% Ol' Red is very smooth. It's still not a chugger, but I found myself going through it with pace. I give a thumbs up, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the sweetness and malty taste of a British brown ale.

**I'll try to hit this one with an update if I have another shot at the tap at Stubbies.
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Links:
Ol' Red Cease & Desist Page
Beeradvocate Page
ratebeer Page

Fallenbock - Erie Brewing Co.

Surprise, I'm back! No, I didn't give up this beer journal after only one crack at it. It'll take at least two posts to kill this aspiration.

Today's brew is privileged to be the first bock addition to the journal, as well as the first doppel, the first by Erie Brewing Co. of Erie, PA, and the first that presents my opinion differing from that of the internet beer reviewing community at large. I've read some harsh pannings of Fallenbock, but I'll say it twice over, I like this autumnal doppelbock and enjoy drinking it even deep into January.

Appearance: Rich walnut body, a little red and fully translucent when held to light.  A nice, springy tan head appeared and covered the glass well. The head stuck around for a few minutes leaving a nice lacing behind for the duration of the drink.

Smell: The nose struck me as much darker than the beer looked. Malt and nut jumped out of the glass, with a little bit of a roasted scent behind.

Taste: The taste followed the scent in perfect form, nutty and a bit malty. A very light hoppy boost balanced the flavors well. The taste was very different from my expectations of a doppelbock. Overall very smooth and light taste with a little bit of chocolate leading to a sweet finish.

Mouthfeel: After getting accustomed to drinking stouts and porters this felt more like a legit lager. It's a bit on the lean side for a doppelbock, but pleasant. A pleasant amount of carbonation helped the feel a bit as well.

Drinkability: I liked this beer chilled and a bit more once at room temperature and breathing. A good mix of slight bitterness without being hoppy and roasted malty sweetness really make for a drinkable brew. I think the problem with the beer is an identity crisis. It suffers from being called a doppelbock. With the mighty doppel people expect a flavor worthy of a title like "OPTIMATOR", "LIBERATOR" or "MAXIMATOR", something that mashes the caps lock into oblivion for you. Truly the Fallenbock is much more a very subtle, nice, dark(ish) lager beer. I wouldn't say that it's not as good as other doppelbocks, it's just different. With an open mind and an open mouth Fallenbock proves itself highly drinkable.
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Links:
Erie Brewing Co. Fallenbock Page
Beeradvocate Page
ratebeer Page

Trying Again

As a comprehensive life review blogger I failed miserably. I reviewed a handful of things over a period of months, but come the long summer days I dropped off the blogosphere and my relic of a blog fell back into the abyss. Well, after an extended hiatus I'm thinking of trying again.

I have a new goal in mind, one which many 20-somethings can relate to: beer. I don't really drink liquor, and only use wine for cooking, but I've gotten in the habit of cracking open a brew whilst playing prep chef in the evening, and I can now safely call myself a semi-regular beer drinker. I am also growing into thinking of myself as a beer snob. I won't say I'm particularly knowledgeable, but I like to try new things and have certain likes and dislikes. Given the million different types of beer available on the market and the wide variety of flavors I occasionally have trouble remembering which beers I've tried. It's a slap in the face to buy a sucky beer for the second time because of a memory lapse.

If I can keep up my blogging, I intend to keep this as a catalogue of sorts. I will take brief notes on any new beers I try (when not hammered) and write down my thoughts here. Not only will taking notes and blogging about beers help me remember beers I like and dislike, but eventually I'll have a fair database of my drinking history and most likely a sad reminder that I could put a kid through college with the money I'm spending on beer.

To kick things off I got a mixed 6 of some interesting singles from Dorn's and I intend to get things rolling while I'm frying some catfish tonight.

Cheers!