The taste is akin to perhaps some well browned toast with grapefruit marmalade (if that even exists); maybe with a splash of coffee. It’s bready and tart, sweet and crisp and smooth. Even at 40 IBUs, the Amarillo hops never really let up. But they aren’t potent, just refreshing and aromatic. They do cut through at any temperature, but as I’m sure you’ve heard many times before, letting a beer warm a bit will really amplifies its malty backbone. And I heartily suggest doing so here.

Perhaps the best part: Brian Boru is uber sessionable … much more so than many of its more powerful Three Floyds Seasonal brethren. And it’s the kind of beer that fits perfectly in the transition period between Winter and Spring. Have at it, lads and lasses. Grade: A-

Tom: TGIF! I just got home from work and needed something to wrap up my work week and celebrate the new weekend. Luckily, I had a bomber from Three Floyds in the fridge. Preferring to wind down and relax after a long week before figuring out dinner plans, I find myself sitting in my recliner, with beer in hand. Today’s selection is Brian Boru Irish Red ale that is quite interesting.

A couple months ago I finished a book by Stephen Mansfield about the legacy of Guinness. At the risk of promoting a competing publishing company, I would highly recommend all beer lovers to read it. It provides a wonderful look into the development of Guinness, Ireland, brewing, religion, and world history. Check it out here. I’ll save you the history lesson and encourage you to buy the book, but Brian Boru’s release is timed perfectly with St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner.

The beer itself is classic Three Floyds. Underneath the high hopping this beer is relatively true to style. They used my favorite hop (Amarillo) which provides aromatic citrus notes. The bottle says that pineapple is one of the main flavors and I would agree. Essentially, there it smells very tropical. Irish ales from across the pond usually accentuate the malt side of things and while this beer is American, it does not shy away from these roots. Rising up from between the fruity hops was a rich caramel, mildly roasted (or toasted?) grains, and toffee highlights. In terms of appearance, the color was a clear reddish/copper with a one finger head.

As I kept taking sips an aroma of alcohol became apparent. I found this odd since the ABV was only 5.5%. At that percentage this beer is session worthy. The ingredients listed included Irish oats and honey. They did not shine through enough to pick them out individually, but the oat most likely added to the mouthfeel and the honey served to supplement the sweet malt flavors.

Brian Boru was very drinkable. The aftertaste had hints of toffee and bread notes. This was covered by a fruity, oily hop resin (which Matt alluded to on our hop discussion). Before I knew it the entire 22 oz. bottle was gone before dinner. Grade: B+

This beer pours a clear orangish-brown with a thin head that didn’t last very long. Carbonation was strong in the beginning but faded quickly. There was a smell of bready malt and caramel. Pleasant enough. Caramel is the advertised distinctive and it comes through both in aroma and taste. There seems to be more malt than hops. The taste is caramels, toast and a subtle metallic in the background. The mouthfeel is somewhat smooth but not creamy. Not watery but not much substance. Not a beer I’d buy but certainly would take as a gift.

ABV: 5.5%

Grade: B-

This Irish Ale poured a rich red-brown into my mug (a favorite for malty ales). It was deep but clear, with a foamy, big-bubbled tan head that launched a wonderful aroma into my nose. As a self-proclaimed Midwestern tribute to the classic Irish Red Ale, this Boulevard concoction is brewed with Pale, Carapils, Caramunich, Caravienne Aromatic and Chocolate malts. The hop profile includes Magnum and Saaz. What a wonderful nose! Malts dominate, and I could really pick out the caramely, chocolatey malt notes. Yet the hops prevented the sweetness from getting too far ahead, and contributed a subtle herbal spiciness that I thought really complemented.

I love the Great Lakes Eliot Ness, which of course is a Lager and not an ale, but the two beers are much closer than one might think. Similar malt profile, with the Ness being just a bit bigger in ABV and IBU. While Lagers and Ales are brewed differently, the two beers are still very similar. And I like that.

The taste of this Boulevard Irish Ale is outstanding. Drinkable, refreshing, nicely malted, not too heavily alcoholic, and well balanced. What a great beer this is. It would hold a consistent place in my fridge if only it were available in Illinois.

Aroma is quite surprising, pleasant, and pleasing. Chocolate, caramel, coffee candy- really quite impressive. Like the inside of a coffee or candy shop.

Taste: I definitely get a roasted note, with a light coffee aftertaste which is really good. The middle of the sip offers a good mix of caramel and roasted barley, with a mouthfeel that is not overpowering and causes me to want more. It’s carbonated to the point where the beer feels creamy to my palate, yet I wouldn’t consider this a creamy beer at all. It just has such a soft finish, no crispness, but in this beer that works. The hops are well hidden, although present. After every sip I’m getting the roasted note and it really fits with this beer.

Overall I really enjoyed this beer. A welcome relief from the hop focused beers I’ve gravitated toward lately. I’m happy I bought this and thoroughly enjoyed this “no-name” beer. Trader Joe’s and Goose Island strike again.

ABV: 5.8% (Thanks to Claudia @ Goose Island for tracking down the brewery spec sheet to verify ABV)

Grade: B

Finnegan’s Irish Amber is one of my staples. It’s an ultra-smooth amber that’s fairly light-bodied but bold in flavor. At times the flavor hints of a nut brown without the body. The lack of body is a good thing in this case, though. It’s easy to drink. As I sat enjoying this amber, my view was of a cold street in Minnesota. Still snowy. Still winter. I sat there fantasizing how wonderful it will be to sip this brew on a patio some warm summer day. That’s when this beer should be enjoyed. While delicious any time of year, I think this beer shines in the summer months. I can’t wait for summer. One last note about the brewery: Finnegan’s give 100% of its profits to local charities. So if anyone is ever giving you trouble for drinking beer, grab a Finnegan’s and tell them, “It’s for charity”.

ABV: 4.6%

Grade: A

To no leprechaun’s surprise, this ale pours red and has thin bubbles rushing to the top, like college kids to green beer. It smells rich sweet and spicy, a mix of malts and caramel as I breathe it in, but that seems to be the high point. The nose is a tad misleading, as it goes down pretty thin and yet ends not refreshing, but like I’ve just chomped on a thick hunk of bark. The earthiness lacks the impact of a nice blend of hops, and ends rather heavy. There is a redeeming quality, an unnamed an mysterious citrus bit, but it is both too brief and too distant to leave a lasting impression. There is also a constant dirty smell and taste, its not overwhelming or out of control, but present enough to turn me off to drinking another.

Their website describes it has having ‘low to medium’ hop flavor and ‘low to medium’ roasted candy-like caramel sweetness. I feel like that seems pretty accurate and their lack of attempt to be bold in either direction, gives them a low to medium grade.

While you may not be as ready as the Irish for pint after pint of Guinness this week, find something else besides this red ale to be your substitute drink of choice.

ABV: 4.5%

Grade: C

With that wordy intro out of the way, onto the present. This Ram is 10 minutes from my house, they have decent food (rarely do I eat there), and they make good beer. But the best part about this place that I’m aware of so far, is the amazing value of their take-home beer, that is if you purchase it on a Tuesday, Friday or Saturday. On those days growlers (a full half gallon) of beer are HALF PRICED. I walked out of there last Saturday morning with 2 growlers of 2 different beers for a whopping $11.76. I spare you the arithmetic, but that equates to $1.47/pint. Compared to your average craft beer 6 pack, this is a bit over half the cost. Like I’ve mentioned in a different review, I own a handful of RAM growlers, which is important because that keeps the cost low, otherwise you have to spend an extra couple of bucks to buy one. Needless to say, its become a bit of a personal treat, like an occasional splurge after payday.

Nutcracker is a seasonal beer and one I’d never heard of but tasted it and decided to buy it. It pours the color of reddish copper with a small head which reduces to a film quite quickly. It smells toasty- like a mild “Fat Tire” aroma, although not quite as toasted. Add some faint caramel notes, minimal hops to speak of, just toasted malt, smelling a bit bready and most importantly, appetizing.

First sip is dominated by the toasted aroma but excites me because 24 hours after opening this growler there is still plenty of crisp carbonation and life. The mouthfeel and body are mild, light almost- this is a crisp, clean tasting ale, refreshing yet flavorful. Can I just stop there? This beer is more malt than hops – nothing “hoppy” here about it but just right. I can tell the hops are there but the true characteristics of this Irish red are the balance of the darker malts that are not overused, and the hops that do not dominate. This is actually a much lighter colored Irish Red than I’ve had. The alcohol level is perfect, I’m guessing around 5%, enough to give this beer an all around good review. Nutcracker is seasonal and recommended for a flavorful, yet easy drinking, clean tasting, slightly toasty ale. Check the Ram out at one of their 3 Chicagoland locations.

ABV: 5%?

Grade: B+

The color is a clean copper producing a tan head that welcomes slow sipping. I’m a fan of big malty beers and Conway fits the bill. Burying my nose in the frothy goodness, I was met with an abundance of rich grains and malt aromas. Let’s see…I picked up some sweet toffee, caramel, biscuit, toasty highlights, and great bready qualities. I imagine this is what a fresh bag of grain would smell like if you scooped up a handful. There were also fruity ale characteristics that accentuated the malt profile. The hops are pretty hidden, but I did note an earthy spice (similar to English pales).

The taste…scrumtrulescant! Each sip was like taking a bite of a moderately toasted piece of bread. One thing that I noticed was that the biscuit flavors come out more and there were additional general nutty notes (hazelnut). The mouthfeel was full, but not heavy on the tongue. It was rather jammy and complimented my PB&J (side of bland almonds) well.

Overall, I’d say this is an excellent beer that deserves a try. For those of you who are hop lovers, this might be a great malty beer to experiment on. Unfortunately, it only comes out in the Spring or I’d have my fridge stocked year round.

Sláinte!

Well, I must say I am getting my sock rocked off as I drink this. Unlike an American Amber (Red) ale, the Irish style is more focused on the malt components rather than pushing the envelope with hop usage. The color is hazy red and the head is low and short lived. The aroma is pure caramel and toasted/roasted grains. I just about fainted, it smelled that good. I recalled the smell of bread popping out of a toaster (set at golden brown) with a hint of caramel. The hopping was very low-moderate. This style only uses the hops to mildly balance out the malt character so while there is some bitterness it is not essentially from the hops. It is very smooth and has low carbonation making it a very easy, relaxing beverage. I could have easily gone for multiple pints. The finish was on the dry side, but I attributed that to the roasted grains not the hops. There was only one hop used and a variety of malt. Two of the malts (American 2-Row and Durst Vienna) were used to add body some body while three different Crystal malts were used to bring forth the rich caramel aromas and flavors. At first, it took me a while to get used to the fact that I was not drinking an American Red, but once I was down to my last sip I was wishing more would miraculously appear in my glass.

For the record my turkey sandwich was delightful. I remember drinking Great Lakes Irish Red Ale while eating a PB&J. I could not get over how amazingly well the two paired well. Give it a try and thank me later!

ABV: 6.5%

Grade: A