Red Ale Comparison
Posted By Chris O'Neill on April 10, 2009
I’m sitting in Boston Pizza drinking a Rickards Red and thinking about how it compares to the Irish Red Ale I just brewed. Thought I’d pull out the iPhone and let the world know.
The main similarity is the body and base flavour are quite close, of course both being red ales. What sets them apart are the aroma and hoppy finish. The Rickards has little aroma and a limp finish, leaving very little to talk about.
My bias is obvious, but based on simple characteristics alone my home brew Irish Red Ale runs laps around its mainstream counterpart. They’re both in the same sport, but completely different leagues. One delivers a strong full body out of the gate and down the stretch, with powerful follow-through on the bitter finish. And the other one seems to show up late for practice.
[...] and it’s at the top of my (and many friends’) list for being a favorite beer. I wrote a commentary on my previous batch a while [...]