Red Seal Ale

This is a beer that advertises itself bluntly. The label reads "Water, malted barley, hops, yeast & that's all." And that is all you shall receive. It is not even remotely a bad thing.

Red Seal is brewed by the North Coast Brewing Company. It is an American amber ale, and North Coast describes the beer as a "beautifully married" combination of barley and hops.

I had this beer with my group of friends at a bonfire at my buddy Jose's place. The weather's been particularly cold 'round these parts (well, to us Southern Californians anyway), so we burned the everloving hell out of whatever Jose had in his back yard. It got to a point where it was painful to stand within two yards of the fire pit.

Let's get on with whatever the hell I'm supposed to be doing here.

TASTE: B
I'm not a huge fan of hoppy beer. As of right now, though, I'm starting to get used to it. This beer had more than a hand in helping me develop a taste for hops. While the bitter flavor does dominate, there's enough malted barley in the mix to maintain a nice balance in the beer. The texture of the beer was nice and creamy.

PRESENTATION: A

I had this beer straight out of the bottle, which, in retrospect, is stupid. I couldn't really see what the liquid itself looked like. But any beer served in a brown bottle is good enough for me. I might amend this later.

PRICE:
BevMo lists Red Seal Ale at $17.69 for a twelve pack. It's a tad pricey. Still worth a try for special occasions, though.

OVERALL GRADE: A-

If you have a recommendation or comment, feel free to write in the comments section or email me at martinpmarrufo@gmail.com.

Killian's Irish Red

I went to Buffalo Wild Wings last night to see the Laker game with my buddies. While there, I wanted to try a new craft brew, which was a mistake. They did have craft beer, but the selection was limited to those created by the big breweries, like Coors's Blue Moon.

Killian's Irish Red

The beer I tried, George Killian's Irish Red, is brewed by Coors and presented as a craft beer. It's an amber lager. Now, from here on in, I will be operating on very hazy recollection because I consumed a sizable amount of alcohol that night. And that's OK.

Let's begin. Bear with me, here. I'm still tinkering with the ratings system.

TASTE: A-

The beer didn't have much of a head to it, and what little head there was disappeared pretty quickly. The beer had a creamy texture akin to a Guiness. The flavor itself was not overly complex, but it had a nice combination of toasty malt and caramel.

PRESENTATION: A

The beer is a clear, dark brown color. Pretty much what you want out of an amber lager. The light passed quite nicely through the beer, which was served in a tall weizen glass.

COST: C

We came into Buffalo Wild Wings for the last 20 minutes or so of Happy Hour. Since we were short on time, we ordered all of our drinks for the night up front. It didn't much matter, really—drinks were only a buck off for happy hour. Somebody said we looked like total alcoholics. Luckily, there were plenty of tables with a similar setup, so our little cloud of self pity was but a small component of a larger atmosphere of despair. Um...what was I talking about?

Oh, yeah. The beer cost $7.50 for 23 ounces sans the $1 discount. Seems about average to me. And really, you're getting some pretty good beer. I thought it was worth it.

OVERALL GRADE: B+

OTHER NOTES

I heard Budweiser is testing the craft beer market, much like Coors is doing with Blue Moon and Killian's. In fact, Coors is set to debut a couple more craft beers in the coming months. Seems like the market is ripe for the exploiting. The idea sounds pretty cool, though it has the potential to be a cheap disappointment.

Send me your beer recommendations at martinpmarrufo@gmail.com.

Red Trolley Ale and Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale

I'm gonna spice things up around here with a couple of beer reviews every now and then. It's been suggested to me by a close friend of mine. Why not? Beer is great.

Let's get this out of the way: I am in no way a beer snob. In fact, I'd go so far as to say whatever brews I sample on this blog are wasted on such an inferior beer-taster's palate.

That said, I love beer. I really, really do. Cheap beer, expensive beer, craft brews, that piss bottled by Budweiser, Miller and company—I can thoroughly enjoy any of them. Naturally, writing about something I like makes a lot of sense.

My buddy Chepo got into microbrews before any of our friends, and to be honest, the guy is infinitely more qualified to talk about beer than I am. But God knows he can't write worth anything.

As Chepo's obsession with craft beer grew (even to the point where he made his own), so did the tastes of our group of friends. We'll gladly drink crappy beer to numb our brains and talk shit, but we do like to spoil ourselves with the fancy craft brews when we can. I can guarantee you won't be sorry if you try some for yourself (if you haven't already).

I'll start with two ales I've had very recently. The first is Red Trolley Ale, which I first encountered at KDB in Long Beach. It's brewed by the Karl Strauss Brewing Company. I had it off tap, served in a standard pint glass. Being the philistine I am, I can't quite tell you in detail how it tastes, but man, it was one of the best I've ever had. It was kind of toasty with a hint of caramel. I prefer beers on the sweeter side, and this was spot-on. It featured a wonderful, toasty flavor with a splash of caramel. Every time I go back to KDB, I find myself downing large quantities of the stuff. I can honestly say it brings to mind a beverage they'd feature at a more alcohol-centric Starbucks. I would probably set up a tent in front of a place like that.

The next beer I tried was Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale. And oh my God, was there a lesson learned there. I always had craft beer straight out of the bottle up until that point, which heavily affected the way I enjoy it. Craft beer straight out of the bottle tastes like syrup to me. We had it outside, next to my fire pit that night. We had two bottles left over, the Dogfish Head and Red Trolley.

I poured the Dogfish Head into a weizen glass (the one that has kind of a bulb at the top). And when I drank it, I experienced an entirely different beer from the one I had the night before. It was somewhat similar to the Red Trolley, but with a much more complex flavor. It was a tad smokier with a touch more caramel taste to it. I'm sure the flavor profile goes much deeper, but I don't yet possess the skills to properly describe it.

If that was even remotely interesting, check back for more of my experiences with beer. I guarantee I'll try to keep it fun along the way.