Breweries both north and south of the border here seem to have a core range which consists of three styles, a blonde (read: lager), a (dry) stout and that ubiquitous Irish style: a red ale. I've never really been that taken by them, often being a little too caramel malty and not much else, all very samey.I decided to put that to the test by doing a comparative tasting of some of the better Irish brewers
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| Four Shades of Red |
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| Carlow O'Hara's Irish Red (4.3%) dark auburn with watermelon and green apple. Acetaldehyde, medium bodied, solvent, caramalt and green apple. Not nice - tipped it away. |
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Porterhouse Red (4.4%)
light chestnut with slight white head formation.Sweet caramel and herbal nose. Astringent, sweet, thin, medium carbonation, papery. |
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Dungarvan Copper Coast (4.3%)
Medium bodied, chocolate, caramel, touch of astringency,cocoa and toffee in finish. |
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| 8 Degrees Sunburnt Irish Red (5%) Spicey cardamom and caramel. Garnet red with minimal lacing. Very low carbonation, sweet, caramalt. Promising start but dull finish. |
Clanconnel McGraths Irish Red (4.3%)
Alcoholic musty, dried fruits on the nose. Fairly dry with light carbonation, candy sugar, shortcake, custard with astringent yet sweet finish.
As you can see from my tasting notes, they're all pretty dull with some being downright nasty. Why do they persist with something so dull. To all Irish brewers please stop using so much caramalt and be more inventive with your hopping instead. Thanks!
Alcoholic musty, dried fruits on the nose. Fairly dry with light carbonation, candy sugar, shortcake, custard with astringent yet sweet finish.
As you can see from my tasting notes, they're all pretty dull with some being downright nasty. Why do they persist with something so dull. To all Irish brewers please stop using so much caramalt and be more inventive with your hopping instead. Thanks!
