Review: Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA

I'm sure many of you have seen the Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA (@sierranevada)
around the stores locally, but it's time for a quick review in case anyone out there is debating buying a 6-pack.  Or just wants to know what I think.

I actually picked these up while at Spec's in Houston but it's all over Baton Rouge as well.  I've seen it recently at Calandro's and Matherne's and I have no doubt that other go-to beer places (or even the bigger grocery stores) will also have some 6-packs on the shelf.  This is one of Sierra Nevada's four seasonal ales to go with the Summerfest, Tumbler, and Celebration Ale.  It's a bit early for a Spring beer, but as they say, it's meant to "create a complex ale for the tumultuous transition to spring."  And so far in 2011-12 we have barely had a winter anyway!

 

Back to the beer... I poured into a Karbach Brewing pint glass, it's a dark amber color, clear with a white head. Not bad looking, but nothing absolutely amazing.

The aroma is really strong with rye and not surprising from Sierra Nevada a good many hops. There is a faint caramel malt balance underneath as well.  The flavor profile is quite similar to the aroma except the hops are more pronounced while the malts fade. The rye adds a nice spice to the beer similar to a rye whiskey.

The mouthfeel is very medium bodied beer with a strong rye aftertaste.  Another good beer from Sierra Nevada.  Obviously if you aren't a hops fan this is one to avoid, but if you like the hops this one is worth buying a 6-pack or sharing with some friends.

Review: Full Sail Bump In The Night

It's been a while since I threw anything up here... almost two weeks and I'm sorry about that!  I just have time for a quick review before I head out to watch some Monday Night Football and the World Series Game 5, so here's the Full Sail Bump in the Night, one of their Brewmaster's Reserve series.

I know I've seen Full Sail Brewery (@fullsailbrewing) beers in Baton Rouge before, but I think it's been a while so I guess I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled out of our market.  I picked up this bomber from Spec's in Houston, so if I hear any news on their presence in Louisiana I'll pass on the word!

I poured from a bomber into a goblet, it has a dark brown appearance that shines a deep red when held up to the light. The head is pretty small but that's alright.

The aroma is malty with a little hop flavor to it. I catch more bitter hops at the beginning before the malts take over.  The flavor is a little more hoppy than the aroma, warm though and the bitter flavor lingers. It's good but not great, and it's tasty but not mind-blowing.  It's not too hoppy for an "American Dark Ale" or "Black IPA" or "Cascadian Dark Ale" or whatever this style is going by these days, but it's still very tasty.

Another solid beer from Full Sail.  A bunch of friends and I tried their Brewmaster's Reserve Hop Pursuit Pale Ale on IPA day a while back and really enjoyed it.

My Rating: B-

BeerAdvocate: B-

Review: Dogfish Head Namaste

Time for a quick review of the Dogfish Head Namaste, a witbier originally brewed as a tribute to the 3 Fonteinen Brewery in Belgium in 2009.  As with pretty much all the Dogfish Head (@dogfishbeer) beer I've reviewed, I found this one at Spec's in Houston.  Maybe one day they will find their way into the Louisiana market, but I believe they are struggling to keep up with their current market after the publicity from the Brewmasters TV show.  Can't blame them for their success, though!

For this beer, I poured from a 750 ml bottle into a goblet, it's a gold color with a finger or so of white head. The aroma is a typical wheat beer with hints of wheat and coriander. The taste is a lot more spiced than the aroma, with strong notes of citrus and coriander. Very light and refreshing. It's a good beer, but it's nothing amazing and probably not worth the price tag or the search.

 

For locally available options that might be most similar to this one, I'd try the St. Bernardus Witbier, Hitachino Nest White Ale, and of course Hoegaarden.

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: B+

Review: Rahr & Sons Snowmageddon Imperial Stout

Time for something other than an IPA as I had been going a little crazy with the ultra-hoppy reviews.  This one is from Rahr & Sons Brewing Company out of Fort Worth, TX.  Rahr & Sons is a relatively new brewery, opened in 2004, but with a lot of history.  The great great grandfather of the brewery's founder originally founded the Eagle Brewery in Wisconsin in the mid 1800s and eventually became the Rahr Malting company which claims to supply about 90% of the breweries in the United States.  Well, alright then... certainly a brewing lineage to live up to.

I've had Rahr & Sons beers before on previous trips to Houston, but always on draft at places like The Flying Saucer or The Petrol Station.  I found this Snowmageddon Imperial Stout in a bomber at Spec's, so bring it on! 

 

Poured into a pint glass, this brew is a deep brown color with a large off-white head. Very nice looking beer! The aroma is rich and chocolatey, malty and strong. Another high mark here.

The taste is more of the same, bitter rich chocolate. It's a very nice imperial stout and the alcohol is well masked.  There is nothing overly complex about this one, but it's a damn fine beer and if I see it on tap when I'm out I wouldn't hesitate to order one up and see how the draft compares with the bottle.

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: B

Review: Dogfish Head Squall IPA

Alright, another quick review, this time of the Squall IPA from the now-famous Dogfish Head Brewery (@dogfishbeer) up in Delaware.  Unfortunately these guys don't distribute to Louisiana yet but they can be found all over Texas, including Spec's where I found a bomber of this beer.

It's a hazy amber color with a finger and a half of bubbly white head. This beer is described as a unfiltered bottle-conditioned version of the 90 Minute IPA which is one of the standards for imperial IPAs everywhere. 

It has a nice grapefruit hoppy smell, with a little caramel malt base to it. The taste is more of the same, a well balanced hoppy IPA with a solid base and lots of flavor.

Another good one from Dogfish Head, although I really feel like I'd rather spend my money on a 4-pack of the 90 Minute IPA than a bomber of this one.  It's not remarkably better in my opinion, but I'll have to try them side by side sometime in the future to really make a final call.

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: A-

Reviews: More Boulevard Smokestack Series

Alright, time for a three-part Boulevard Brewing (@boulevard_beer) quickie to get some of these reviews out of the way!  They are stacking up on my big time.  Time for a three-part review of three more Boulevard Smokestack series beers... I hate to make it quick on three good ones, but I think by now I've established that I really like this series.  For past posts about them, check out the Double-Wide IPA, Long Strange Tripel, and Chocolate Ale. I grabbed all of these in 750ml bottle at Spec's in Houston.

Beer #1: Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale!   This one I poured into a Homer Brewing goblet. It's a pale yellow color, with an impressive head. It has great retention and lacing. Definitely a good looking beer.

The aroma is earthy and medicinal, with hints of honey and a slightly sour note. The flavor is very similar to the aroma except with a tasty bitter hop kick to it. I also really like the creamy mouthfeel and bubbly carbonation.

This is a very well done beer that I thoroughly enjoyed.  Another winner for the Smokestack Series!

My Rating: A
BeerAdvocate: A-

Saison Pale Ale

Beer #2: Two Jokers Double-Wit! This beer called for my Abita cylindrical stange.  This beer is an orange-gold color with a huge white head. Great retention and lacing to the frothy head.

The aroma is very spicy, citric and strong coriander smells to it. There's a little ginger cinnamon smell to it as well. The flavor is a lot like the aroma. Spicy with a multitude of flavors coming through. The coriander is still the most dominant note.

Great mouthfeel, creamy and a perfect flavor blend throughout each sip. Great beer, one of the best yet from the Smokestack series, and that's saying a lot.

My Rating: A+
BeerAdvocate: A-

Witbier

Beer #3: Seeyoulator Doppelbock! For this one I went with a corsendonk goblet. It's a deep red cloudy beer with a small creamy head.

It has a really rich malty aroma as expected. Definite hints of toffee and caramel and very appetizing. The taste is very similar to the aroma with a boozy sting to it on the front and a roasted tone creeping through on the end. It's definitely more boozy than the aroma indicated, almost as if it was bourbon barrel aged but I don't think it was. Really really good flavor to it.

It's a little thin compared to the bold flavors. Really could use a little body to it but that probably helps the drinkability. Overall, a good beer. Not quite an A+ to me but I'd drink it again without thinking twice.

My Rating: A
BeerAdvocate: B+

Bock

And there you go... three more winners from the Boulevard Smokestack Series... I recently picked up a few more of these in smaller 4-packs, so here's hoping they keep impressing me just as much!

Cheers!

Review: Boulevard Chocolate Ale

Alright, another Boulevard Brewing Company (@boulevard_beer) Smokestack Series beer, this time the Chocolate Ale.  I've previously written about the Double-Wide IPA and Long Strange Tripel and gave both of them an A+, so this one has a lot to live up to. I picked this one up at Spec's in Houston, the Smokestack series all come in 750ml bottles, so there's enough to share with a friend!

The first thing to note about this one is that it's an American Strong Ale in style, while the vast majority of chocolate beers I've tried before were porters or stouts. It's a hazy apricot color, with about two fingers of bubbly head. The head receded pretty quick without much lacing, and even knowing it wasn't a stout I expected a darker beer with a chocolate name!

It smells of spice and strong chocolate, with a little fruit sweetness in there as well. The taste starts out as an identical flavor profile to the aroma, but then some floral hops come in. That's a very nice addition to the overall flavor of the beer!

The mouthfeel is interesting. It's a little thin despite checking in at 9.1% alcohol, but there are so many flavors competing that it's not readily apparent. There is also a distracting lingering bitter chocolate aftertaste.

All in all, an interesting and good beer, but I was expecting a little more body.  Still, a very well crafted brew.

My Rating: A-

BeerAdvocate: A-

American Strong Ale

Review: Boulevard Brewing Long Strange Tripel

Time for another review, this one coming from the Boulevard Brewing Company (@boulevard_beer) in Kansas City, Missouri.  The "Long Strange Tripel" is of course a Belgian-style tripel ale and is part of Boulevard's specialty "Smokestack Series" of craft beers.  I previously tried and loved their "Double-Wide IPA" so on a recent trip to Spec's in Houston I picked up a handful of other Smokestack series beers.  The first one I broke open was this tripel... so let's see how it goes...

As expected for the style, I poured the beer from the 750 ml bottle into the St. Bernardus goblet that I picked up in a recent gift set. It's a beautiful hazy gold with a frothy white head. There is great retention and lacing to this beer.

This tripel has a very sweet and fruity aroma to it. There are a little floral hops in there but the flavors I'm picking up are primarily sweet.

The taste, fortunately, is not as sweet. Wow this is a good tripel! It has the perfect Belgian hop profile and the right hint of spice. If you're a fan of Belgian-style ales this is definitely one to check out in the future.  If I see some of these the next time I'm in Houston I'll definitely be adding a few to the "beer cellar" in the back of my fridge.

Well done, Boulevard. This smokestack series continues to impress me, and I can't wait to get into the rest of them.

 

My Rating: A+

BeerAdvocate: A-

Tripel

Review: Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot

Now for a quick review of a beer I picked up at Spec's in Houston.  This one is the Wilco Tango Foxtrot imperial brown ale from the Lagunitas Brewing Company (@lagunitasbruhws) checking in at 7.83% alcohol.  I've long been a fan of Lagunitas because they are some of the cheaper bombers to come across when browsing the beer aisles in Spec's.  According to Lagunitas it was intended to be a follow up to their 2009 Correction Ale called the 2010 Recovery Ale, but... well... the economy hasn't really recovered, so they went with the Wilco Tango Foxtrot, a rather obvious play on words/abbreviations.  Good name for a beer, in my opinion! 

For this one I poured from a bomber into a pint glass... it's a clear copper color with about an inch of slightly off-white head. It has great retention with a little lacing.

The first hint on the aroma is mild hops, then a warmth of caramel malts and booze... very nice.  The taste is more of the same... maybe a little less hoppy than the aroma but the malts aren't on top either. The boozy alcohol flavor doesn't come through as much as on the nose.  This is definitely a good example of an imperial brown ale, a style that isn't defined on BeerAdvocate.  I've tried one other imperial brown ale recently, the Tommyknocker Imperial Nut Brown Ale, and it also impressed me as a malty high alcohol brew.

Feels good on the tongue... pretty damn drinkable for a relatively high abv beer. It's not the best beer ever, but still tasty and one I'd recommend on a beer run to our neighbors to the West.  Pick up this one and some others from Lagunitas and you will not be disappointed.

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: B+

Brown Ale

Review: Avery DuganA IPA

Alright, time for a quick review of the DuganA IPA from Avery Brewing Company (@averybrewingco) out of Boulder, Colorado.  Like most Colorado beers I review here, I picked this one up at Spec's in Houston.  They can get beers from New Belgium, Avery, Great Divide, Ska, and others that aren't in Louisiana yet.  Hopefully someday they will be, but for now I'll just have to make the occasional beer run.

This particular IPA is actually an Imperial (or Double) IPA, brewed with around twice the malt and hops as a typical IPA would be.  They can range from 7% or so alcohol up to 14% for a really strong one.  At 8.5% this DuganA is on the lower end, but that's still a pretty stiff beer.  I'm not really sure what DuganA means... but whatever, I'll still drink it!

For this IIPA, I poured from a bomber into an imperial pint glass. It's a hazy faded orange color, with two fingers of frothy white head. Great retention and lacing.

The aroma is hoppy as expected, but it's tough to place the exact hop profile. There are floral notes, a little honey even. The taste is hoppy and bitter, a good match for the aroma. 

There's a little lingering bitter taste, but pretty good mouthfeel. I guess my overall impression is that it's a good but not great beer.  I'd drink it again, but I don't know that I'd seek it out... at least not until the next release.

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: A-

Hmmmm, I noticed Blogger has added a "Location" option. Interesting... 

Reviews: Great Divide, Avery, & Green Flash Barleywines

Alright, time to run through a few quick reviews of a trio of barleywines I picked up at Spec's in Houston not too long ago.  American barleywines are quickly becoming one of my favorite styles, easily in my top 5.  I'm not sure they are above a good Belgian strong ale, but they're getting up there.  On to the reviews...

The first one comes from Great Divide (@greatdividebrew), which is currently one of my favorite breweries and one I try to pick up as much as possible when traveling to Houston or elsewhere.  This one is their Old Ruffian Barleywine.  I poured it from a bomber into an imperial pint glass... it's a copper color, clear with a large off-white head. A pretty decent looking beer.

The aroma is boozy and malty, with hints of molasses and caramel. The flavor is insanely rich... boozy as well but so strong with the caramel and molasses flavors... it's a little overwhelming, but so delicious. Like a food that has so much flavor it's hard to concentrate on just one. It's tasty and exciting.

I like this one a lot... not sure if it's going to be an A+ beer but it's an A at the worst.

My Rating: A 

BeerAdvocate: A-

Second up, the Hog Heaven Barleywine from Avery Brewing (@averybrewingco), a second straight Colorado brewery.  Just like the Old Ruffian, I poured the brew from a 22 oz. bottle into an imperial pint glass.  It's a dark copper color with a frothy white head.  It has great lacing and good retention... a solid looking beer!

The smell is malty with a metallic hint to it... caramel and molasses dominate.  The taste is a lot better than the smell... rich with the malt/hop flavors and boozy sweetness.  I like the mouthfeel a lot, but that's pretty typical of barleywine or similarly high-gravity beers.

Easy to drink... a solid beer but not quite as good as the Old Ruffian.  

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: B+

Finally, a California barleywine, the Green Flash (@greenflashbeer) Barleywine Style Ale.  I decided to mix it up for this one, and poured from a bomber into a Corsendonk goblet as opposed to a pint glass. It's a murky brown color with an inch worth of bubbly slightly off-white head. Good retention and lacing on this one.

It's a great smell, rich and malty. There is definitely a boozy note to it and lots of caramel and spice. The taste is way more bitter with the hops up front then a boozy kick followed by a warm caramel hint and the back to the hops on the aftertaste. Not bad, I guess the California thing is to add a little more hops, I know I've had the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot barleywine before and it's extremely hoppy for the style. 

I really like the layering of flavor in this one. Feels good on the mouth for sure. My overall impression, a strongly above average barleywine but not the best I've had.  Better than the Avery offering but falling a little short of the Great Divide brew. 

My Rating: A-  

BeerAdvocate: B+

In summary, all three were fantastic beers that I'd drink again.  Now I just need to find a few more barleywines to try and keep expanding my knowledge of the style.

Cheers!

Barleywine

New Belgium - Lips Of Faith Series

Time for a couple more standard reviews... this time from the "Lips Of Faith" series from New Belgium Brewing (@newbelgium) out of Fort Collins, Colorado.  I'm not sure how long they've been doing this series but each one seems to be inspired by a different old-world style and have some pretty crazy flavors!  I picked up the Sahti and Vrienden from Spec's in Houston a little while back, and I have a few more waiting for future tastings.

First, the Sahti... this is a take on a Finnish style of beer traditionally flavored with Juniper berries, and it's my first go at this style...  I poured it into a goblet... wasn't sure what would be best and I see that BA recommends a pint glass. Whoops... hopefully a goblet will do just fine though.

It's a deep golden color, not hazy like the style says it should be, with a really small head. Nothing too impressive here, but it's not like it looks bad.

The smell is very biscuity, with a warm maltiness to it and then just a hint of floral note at the end. It's interesting for sure and makes me want to dive in.

The flavor is very similar to the smell... malty up front but there are definite woody bitter notes at the end. This one tastes more like a Belgian ale than I was expecting with floral undertones to it.  It's got a nice body to it... very very drinkable. This one could be trouble at 7.2% abv if I had more of it or was sitting at a bar.

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: B-

Sahti

Up next, the Vrienden, which is apparently Flemish for friends.  There, don't ever say my blog didn't educate you about something other than beer!  This one is a pretty potent 8.5% abv American Wild Ale, brewed with hibiscus and brettanomyces.  For those unfamiliar, brettanomyces (or just brett) is a yeast strain used in many Belgian wild ales and sours, along with lambics and guezes... it tends to impart a bit of a sour flavor to beers, sometimes desirable, sometimes not!  This beer was served in a 22 oz. bottle, poured into a Corsendonk goblet.

It's a reddish-amber color, with a small white head.  You can definitely smell the floral notes... the dominant flavor is definitely the hibiscus with a hint of hops.  The hibiscus is even more present on the tongue, with those sour brett flavors coming through too. A good blend of floral and sour notes, pretty delicious really, and not what I was expecting.

The mouthfeel is good... not too thin, very carbonated, pleasant.  I don't know how many of these I could drink... the sour notes make it tough to really down it. Plus it's pretty strong despite not tasting too boozy. Overall, I enjoyed this one a good bit, and it was certainly nice to try something new!

My Rating: A-

BeerAdvocate: B

Obviously I liked these two a little more than the masses, so I look forward to trying some more of the series!

Quick Review: Allagash Dubbel Ale

Here's another one I picked up at Spec's in Houston... if you haven't figured it out by now, Spec's on Smith St. right by downtown Houston is probably the best beer run you can make from Baton Rouge for a really good selection of brews you can't find in Baton Rouge.  Heading the other direction I hear Pensacola has some really good bottle shops, but I haven't tried to beer run that way yet.  (Other than a planned trip to Gainesville...)

Allagash is a brewery out of Maine that specializes in Belgian-style ales.  I've had their Tripel and Curieux (bourbon barrel aged tripel) before and both were pretty good beers... so, it's time to try their dubbel.

 

As true with all Belgian-style ales, the proper glassware is some soft of goblet or oversized wine glass.  This brew is a murky brown color with a finger-worth of creamy off-white head. Good looking beer.

It smells like raising and malt sweetness. Definitely some Belgian candy-sugar sweetness to it.  The taste is like the aroma but not super bold... it's kind of a let down after the aroma, but still good.   It's a little thin, but still overall a good beer. Not the best dubbel ever but still enjoyable.  

 

I still say my all-time favorite dubbel is the Chimay Premiere (red label) followed closely by the Westmalle Dubbel, but for an American version, this offering from Allagash is not bad at all.

My Rating: B

BeerAdvocate: B+

Belgian Dubbel

Quick Review: BrewDog Dogma

Here's another one from Scottish brewers BrewDog, that I happened to see and pick up at Spec's on a recent trip to Houston.  I'm pretty sure it can be found around Baton Rouge as well, chances are Calandro's and maybe a few other places have it.  They have other BrewDog beers for sure.  In fact, I recently featured their Tokyo* Stout as it was my first beer above 14% abv ever!  I also wrote about their Punk IPA toward the end of 2010, a very tasty IPA. This one is their Dogma ale... a spiced beer brewed with honey, kola nuts, poppy seeds, and guarana.  Obviously I know all about honey, and I know guarana is the stuff they use in a lot of energy drinks, but I'm not too familiar with kola nuts or poppy seeds as a spice.  Well... here goes nothing! 

I poured this one into an imperial pint glass... it's a slightly hazy brilliant amber color with a ridiculous beige head. Phenomenal retention and lacing... good looking brew.

It definitely smells spiced, with an amber ale base. It's hard to pick out the exact spices, but I can tell that there's definitely some honey in there.  It's tasty though, pretty good.

The nuttiness comes out strong in the taste, more than any other flavor. I'm not familiar with kola nuts but it's pretty obvious that's what's up. It's also very boozy, tasting way stronger than 7.8% to me. The other flavors are there as well, just mostly unfamiliar to me.

The booziness throws off the mouthfeel for me, but other than that I really like this one. It's certainly something interesting and new to me, and I'd definitely try it again to get a better handle on all the flavors.  A very different beer for me, but a good one.

My Rating: B

BeerAdvocate: B

Spiced Beer

Review: Lindemans Pêche Lambic

Time for a new style to these reviews... the Lambic.  A lambic is an interesting style because it's allowed to openly ferment, using wild yeast to spontaneously ferment.  For this reason lambics are only produced in a specific region of Belgium with the right natural yeasts to produce beer as opposed to total funk.  (I mean, some people might consider lambics to be total funk... but to each their own!)  The most popular style of lambic is the fruit lambic, and one of the most popular brewers of such fruit lambics is Lindemans.  

Lindemans is best known for their Framboise, a raspberry lambic that can be found in bottle all over and even on tap at a few places around town like the Chimes.  (They have had it before, not sure if it's in the current lineup...)  However, Lindemans also does many other fruit flavors, so the last time I was in Houston, I picked up a couple of the other flavors, and some Young's Double Chocolate Stout to go with them. 

First, a review of the Pêche Lambic by itself... it's clear, with sparkling orange color and not much head. Kinda has a champagne look to it. The aroma didn't blow me away... definitely peach, sweet, and a little grass note too. A little sour.

The taste is far better! Still sour and peach notes, but there's a nice malt beer flavor in there too. It's not overly sweet like some lambics and really has a tasty balance that makes this one far more drinkable than the raspberry lambic from Lindemans that really overpowers me.

I'm a fan, I like the peach flavors, and love the balance.  All in all this is a solid beer that stands well on its own, although a lot of people might find the peach flavors to be a big strong.

My Rating: B

BeerAdvocate: B+

The real treat to these lambics, though, is to blend them with a good chocolate beer.  I recommend a Young's Double Chocolate Stout or a Rogue Chocolate Stout, although other beers will do the trick just as well.  Blend about 2/3 chocolate stout to 1/3 lambic and you can really have a tasty desert beer. 

Fruit Lambic

Review: Wexford Irish Style Creme Ale

File this one under:  
Beer!

First let's bring it back to St. Patrick's Day 2009... when my buddy Jeremy Spikes put together a fantastic float for the parade. The theme was 'pub crawl' and one of the pub signs we used to decorate our float was from Durty Nelly's pub. Fast forward a couple of months to a trip to Ireland in May 2009... where we ended up booking a couple of nights at the Bunratty Castle hotel, a beautiful hotel located a short walk from Bunratty Castle itself. And at the foot of Bunratty Castle was the infamous Durty Nelly's. One of my goals as I travel around the world and the country is to always seek out different beers, and it just so happened that they had one I had never tried before, Wexford Creme Ale. Now, by the time we hit up that particular pub it had been a long evening of drinking, so my memories of the beer might be a little hazy, but I remember a lighter, very refreshing alternative to the usual Guinness and Smithwick's you can find throughout Irish pubs.

Fast forward again to October 2009, when a trip to Spec's with my buddy James Lawson produced another surprise, 4-packs of the Wexford on the shelf. Since the memories were fond for this beer, it was time to buy a pack, and now it's time to get on with the review.

There's a nice hissing when the 440 ml (that's about 14.9 oz. for us) can pops open and the widget (the same as in a can of Guinness!) activates, releasing thousands and thousands of bubbles. The instructions on the can say to pour down the side, so I did... into an imperial pint glass courtesy of Ivar's. At first it's nothing but bubbles giving the pour a creamy tan color with the bubbles rising and beer level rising with them. The beer itself is a cloudy amber color, not dark at all like a stout, hence the 'creme ale' label. A thick white creamy head developed on the beer and just won't go away!

The beer has a smell of a little bit of malt with some definite butterscotch, and a little bit of hops on the end, nothing too strong though. There is a hint of caramel on the first taste along with a slight bitterness from the light hops. The butterscotch present in the smell is still there on the back end of each sip. Probably the most noticeable thing is the way the beer feels like a big thick beer despite being rather light. The nitro-pressure gives it a much more full body than a light lager, but still not overly carbonated.

As far as 'drinkability' goes, Bud Light doesn't have shit on this stuff. There's nothing overly offensive or bold about it, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Some people don't like overly hoppy, or stout, or chocolatey, or fruity beers, and this is none of those. It's a nice balance of malt and light hops that everyone should be able to enjoy. I could definitely kill a few of these in a sitting.

Despite mediocre marks on beeradvocate, I must say I really enjoyed this beer. I'm glad my memory didn't entirely let me down!

Taste: B
Value: B
Avail.: C-

Three fun facts: the beer is called 'Irish Style' because despite being molded after and named after a county in Ireland, it's actually brewed in the UK; Wexford checks in a 5.0% abv, which puts it in the mid-range of beers; County Wexford is in the Leinster province of Ireland.