Friday Grog Blogging

Avast, and ach, and ahoy! Nothing's more dwarfey than a good pint of beer, and so from now on I'll be blogging about a brand of beer I'm drinking this week. Some might say I'll be sampling each week's pick as I blog about it. This is an amateur beer lover's opinions. At this point I'm not going to delve into beer jargon, because I don't know any.

For the most part, I'll be talking six packs purchased at my local specialty wine and beer store, but I may spice up things with a trip to the local pubs.

This week, I picked up Fort Collins Brewery's RetroRed, "A Classic Ruby Red Ale".

Impression by the packaging: A red ale, huh? Well, I like Killian's, so let's go for it. I take it home and open her up.

First drink: Phbbt?! This ain't no red ale! It's a mislabeled porter. I was expecting Killian's, and I got something nearer to Guinness. Okay. Expectations not met. What about the actual beer?

It's not bad, expectations aside. As a full, dark beer, it sits less like a brick in the stomach like Guiness can, and without the impenetrable foam. There's a whole bunch of expansive flavor that settles about the roof of the mouth, and has a little jolt of bitterness without going whole hog into the barleywine or IPA madness.

Consensus: Unexpected, Enjoyable, flavorful, growling, will last longer in the fridge than a Killian's or a wheat beer, but that's a good thing.

Two and a half (out of four) pints.