Hello and welcome to another edition of Reviewin The Brews, where we look at all beers local, national and even international. Hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend, I know mine was chalk full of things that were going on. From weddings to visiting friends to watching fireworks at UMass Amherst with my girlfriend, I had quite a bit on my plate. Almost don't want it to end, but time for things to settle back down and get right back to work.
In this edition, we will be looking at a type of beer we have yet to dig into and one I have only rarely ever tried: the red ale. This type of beer is pretty sour and it gets it's name from the red colored malt and is often called the most wine-like of all types of beers. As always before I drink up, I want to give you some background information on the brewery that made this ale.
Background: White Lion Brewery is a milestone brewery as it was the very first craft to open in the heart of Springfield MA. While smaller towns up north were cashing in on the craft beer renaissance early on, Springfield surprisingly didn't have much interest going around for it. That changed in 2011 when a man named Raymond Barry came to town to put down the blueprints for what would be White Lion Brewery. It would open three years later with four brews: a pale ale, a cream ale, a black IPA, and of course, this red ale that I have with me today. Their mission is to attract beer fans while preserving local familiarity. I also heard during the summer time, they have a beer garden that Food and Wine magazine calls one of the best, so i might return to this spot for a future Goin Through edition. But now let's get to the review!
First impressions: I always like to pick out brews that has an eye catching label and this one is no exception. Kind of reminds me a bit of the MGM logo that would come on before a James Bond movie. When I checked the website, I saw that the White lion serves as a sign of good will to all of mankind and folklore calls them the children of the Sun Gods, sent as gifts to the earth. The front also promises this to be "insanely good" and to that I say we shall see
Appearance: Pours to a an amber color, head settles to a medium size, somewhat cloudy
Aroma: malty, somewhat smells like opening a small box of raisins. There was a bit of an orange smell but not too much.
Taste: sour to start, but finishes mild. I had some hesitation about this because I was worried the bitterness levels would be too strong but thankfully that wasn't the case. Subtle fruity flavor.
Overall: So does this beer follow through on White Lion's promise of being "insanely good"? Well, I wouldn't say it was good up to that level, but it did end up being better than I expected it to be. When I first heard of red ales and the whole "wine-like" description, I kind of found myself hesitant because I am far from a wine drinker, unlike most of the people in my family. The other time I tried a red ale, it was just too bitter for my palate, but this one was a little bit better. I wouldn't say there was a balance of bitterness and sweetness as it did lean more towards the latter. I'll give this a ***.5/*****
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this review, I have gotten a lot of good feedback from people close ot me as well as from you the reader and it's things like that that keeps me going with this and I thank you all. Until next time, this is Andrew saying Cheers to you!
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