Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Quick Sips: Weyerbacher Fireside Ale


I like me some Weyerbacher, enough so that I even toured the Weyerbacher Brewery. On the surface, this brewery has historically looked like shit because they had awful labels. Sorry, label guys, but it's true. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but in the real world people do, and beers as good as Weyerbacher's should not be subject to such awfulness as this ... and that's a mild example. I went with something easy to Google.

Thankfully they underwent a total label reinvention last year, so maybe now more people will start paying attention to their great beer.

Anyway, Fireside Ale is their take on a smoked beer. Best I can tell, this was last released in the fall of 2011 -- so yeah, this review is late to the party! (I drank this and took these notes in late winter/early spring 2012.)

The beer pours a rich brown with a modest, fizzy head. There is nutty, caramel malt in the aroma, but no smoke to speak of. I've had smoked beers that smelled like bacon (and didn't like them), so the approachable aroma was welcome.

And sure enough, the taste was smokey but approachable, too. Hints of smoke in the middle and finish, but not strong and not bacony, only just enough to give it a pleasant, Earthy taste. There is mild sweetness in the middle, but not nearly as much as the nose suggests.

I really liked this. This is an accessible smoke beer. One of the most accessible I’ve had, in fact. It pairs fantastic with meat and drinks nice. A "starter" smoked beer, maybe, but for someone who doesn't care for the deep smoke of high-octane smoked beers I really enjoyed this.

Too bad it looks like they don't make it anymore.

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