Photo courtesy of http://www.thebeerjury.com/

On a recent trip to BJs, I made a quick check of the beer aisle to see if they had anything interesting. To my great surprise they had a split case of Sam Adams that included their Noble Pils (see the Wookie’s fine review here). As this beer is soon to disappear from their Spring/Summer lineup, I felt that I had to grab it before it was gone. Sadly, I had decided to share the 4 bottles of Noble Pils with my fellow Booze Dancers, so instead I opened a bottle of Irish Red.

From the Sam Adams site…

“The gentle rain and fertile soil of Ireland helped inspire this style of ale, known for being remarkably balanced. Pale and caramel malts give Samuel Adams® Irish Red its rich, deep red color and distinctive caramel flavor. The sweetness of the malt is pleasantly balanced by an earthy character from the East Kent Goldings hops. Samuel Adams Irish Red finishes smooth and leaves you wanting to take another sip.”

While the words from Sam Adams are a little lofty, I found the Irish Red to have the following characteristics

• Appearance: A little more amber than red. Slight foam that quickly dissipates. An average amount of lacing.
• Aroma: A lot of malt sweetness from the caramel with a slight hint of hops coming through in the background.
• Taste: Medium carbonation. Creamy mouthfeel. Rich body and sweetness throughout which is offset by the mild hops flavor leaving a very pleasant finish.
• ABV: 5.8%

While this beer might not have enough of a slam for a hophead, the heft of a heavier malt or the cache of an import, I found the Irish Red to be a very drinkable beer (the Beer Advocate has it as a B). As we have noted in several other reviews, that seems to be what Sam Adams excels at and here we have another good product.