“The Irish are famous for many things, like leprechauns, the colour green and a public holiday dedicated to drinking beer. And it’s one of their beers – the traditional red ale – that we’ve perfected just for you. The Blackhorse Red Ale follows the Irish recipe before deviating with our own unique finish to give a slightly darker colour and strong smooth malt profile. The hint of caramel is certainly no surprise given the beer’s hue, and roasted barley makes itself known too. This is the beer for anyone who ‘likes a good red’ – it even matches to red meat and cheese, just like its grapey cousin”.
Our 3rd instalment of this breweries core range, and spruiked by the head brewer as their signature beer. Served in an English pint the glowing copper-red appearance is very easy on the eye. Capping this liquid beauty off is a 1 finger beige head that reduces to a halo around the edge of the glass. Mild lace. Straight off the bat we can tell this is the head brewers signature beer, the first thing we love is the display of balance between the fruity hops and the nutty, caramelised aromas. If we are correct, Galaxy hops would be providing the tropical fruity wafts while the malt backing is offering chewy caramel, honey, nuts and fig jam. Gorgeous aroma. In the mouth it’s sticky and well rounded. Much better carbonation levels with a steady stream of fizz providing a persistent head and decent bubble on the tongue. Good body. Upfront we taste sweet, toffee malts, caramel and nuts. A mild hop bitterness cuts through the sweetness to offer a little balance through the mid, while the nutty, medium sweet finish provides decent length on the rear palate. 5% ABV which is about on par for a red ale. Every element of the aroma and flavour is very representative of the style, the brewer has done a good job at nailing the basics which in turn produces this quality drop. Big ups.