Saturday, February 11, 2017

Flat Earth Red Cape Irish Red Ale

Flat Earth Red Cape Irish Red Ale. Flat Earth Brewing, St. Paul, MN. 5.1% ABV. Winter Seasonal.

This Flat Earth beer is one that I'd always passed on when I saw it on local shelves in bottles. There was always something else that seemed a little sexier. The sample man came through with these unlabeled 12 ounce bottles. I wondered if I should include these for review, but, why not? They came from the brewery. It has to be the same beer as the one you find on the shelves, right?

Dark brown color, showing clear and crimson at the edges, with a slim tanned head.

In the nose: caramel malt's in charge of this one. Sweet and toffee-ish at the start. Mostly malty, hops are hidden. Nice.

In the mouth: Malt grabs the palate at first, keeps things sweet and supple, before losing the grip. Stays malty-sweet throughout the sip, before ending on a lightly bitter edge, then fading away. Definitely down able. A friendly ale, to be sure.

But something is a little off. It doesn't really fit the parameters of an Irish Red. Certainly doesn't look very red. I wondered if they'd mislabeled the cap, and then checked some reviews on BeerAdvocate, and it does seem like we were all drinking the same beer. A different take on an Irish Red Ale, that's for sure, but not bad at all.

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