Better Dead than Red?

Ok, I’ll admit it, I don’t like red ales. No matter how hard I’ve tried I find all red ales cloyingly sweet and far too malty. Even those that claim to be hop forward come off too sweet and often syrupy. And before you accuse me of being a biased hop head, you should know that I take pleasure in traditional milds, ESBs, browns and other malt forward ales. There's just something wrong with reds. It’s not just one style of red either, every red ale I’ve tried, from American reds to Irish, from hoppy red IPAs to Imperial reds, the style just doesn’t agree with me me. Hell, I’ve even experimented with making my own red ale and ended up hating that too.

Imaginary label from an imaginary brewery

I’ve home brewed since the early  90s and like most home brewers I have dreams of going pro some day (if anyone’s interested in financing that dream I’d be glad to take your money). My brewing partner and I have gone as far as creating a concept, label art, posters and signage for our dream brewery and in this imaginary landscape one of our flagship beers is called “The People’s Red Ale.” Brewed with Maris Otter, crystal 60L, a bit of roasted barley, hopped with Fuggles, and fermented out with an Irish ale yeast (WLP004) this beer was popular. Friends, family and even complete strangers raved about it, but me, I hated it. So we tinkered with the recipe, making the beer more hop forward, changing hops, switching base malts, raising and lower the amount of roasted barley, changing to a more neutral yeast strain and while everyone else enjoyed our efforts I just couldn’t find it in me to like this beer. Not one to give up I decided I’d go on a personal quest to find the perfect, no wait, who am I kidding? I’ve just been looking for an enjoyable red ale.

It’s been nearly eight years since we brewed that first batch of the People’s Red, and I’ve tasted many, many, some might say way too many, red ales since then and I have yet to find a red I like. I will admit there have been some that came close to changing my mind, Bear Republic’s “Red Rocket,” Hopworks Urban Brewery’s “Abominable Ale,” Alesmith’s “My Bloody Valentine,” and a Smithwicks in a tiny pub in Southern Ireland didn’t get spit out, but I didn’t go in for seconds either. Well, that’s not totally true I drank my fair share of Smithwicks on that trip to Ireland, but that was about context not taste. I’ve tasted, dumped, and spit my way through many a modern red and I just can’t find one that suits my palate. Maybe it was the George Killian’s that we binge drank in high school that turned me against this style. Maybe I’ve just become prejudiced to the style and anything labeled red triggers some innate reverse Pavlovian response.  Or maybe, as much as it pains me to write this, I just don’t like that particular style of beer. How can that be? I’m a beer guy (note not a snob) and I rarely turn my nose up at a beer, but try as I might I have found no love for the red. And while I haven’t given up on my quest, I may just be tilting at windmills.

Do you have a red I might like?  Do any of you have a particular style you dislike? Let me know in the comments. For those of you who might be interested here are two of my People's Red home brew recipes "The People's Red Ale" and "The People's Red (for real people)." Feel free to critique.

Session Beer Month

Today, twitter is all a flutter with posts commenting on Session Beer Month promoted by @sessionbeermay and using #sessionbeer to encourage craft beer drinkers to indulge in smaller beers instead of the heavy alcohol bombs that seem to be dominating the industry these days. 

I applaud any effort to encourage an appreciation for small beers. While I enjoy big beers, especially big Belgian Triples, Imperial IPAs and Imperial Stouts, these beers are hard to enjoy in anything but moderation. Spending an evening out while drinking these beers means drinking maybe three pints before one has hit their limit. If I'm out enjoying the company of friends and family at my local, I want small beers that I can enjoy without worry that I'll have difficulty walking away from my table.  I'm not calling for boring yellow fizzy beer. I think there is a market for beers like traditional milds and bitters, small Scottish 60/ or 70/, small saisons and farmhouse ales, and browns, porters and traditional dry stouts to name a few.  American Craft Brewers have mastered the art of big beer and what they produce is nearly always fantastic. But, bigger doesn't always mean better. Small beers should be attractive to brewers, challenging them to create tasty and complex beers without relying on the crutch of huge malt bills and pounds of hops that often cover flaws in a beer's production. They should also be a welcome distraction to craft beer drinkers. Sitting down to a bar -- or attending festival -- where small beers are being served, the consumer can still get all the flavors found in the bigger beers, but with the added benefit of drinking a wider variety. Additionally small beers don't produce the problem of palate fatigue that one can experience when drinking through double IPAs, Imperial IPAs and other "extreme beers." It's time that we in the craft beer community move away from the "bigger is better," attitude that has dominated the industry and quench the creative drive and the consumers thirst with smaller but interesting beer.