Walkin' in a Wicklow Wonderland

Yeah.

Red Ale.

Irish Red Ale.

Is it even a thing, was it ever a thing?

Or is it just a slopped down version of an English Mild, stuck in to Irish pubs in the 1980s for people who just didn't like Stout, but who couldn't admit they wanted something else.

Of course along came generic lagers and put a stop to all that nonsense.

But stuck in purgatory was Irish Red Ale. Personally when I see an Irish brewery come out with a beer labelled "Red Ale" I roll my eyes and think "Holy Trinity, stout, red, pale", and pass it by.

Sometimes though, if other beers from a brewery are the type of beers that make people take notice then I'll stop for a look at the Red Ale they are offering. I had an exact night in mind, I was due to spend an evening at an event where craft beer would be a non-entity, so when I got home I'd have some decent beer waiting for me.

I stuck O Brother's The Fixer into a glass and  drank it over an hour or so, from the fridge. I wanted to allow it all leeway possible, given I know the lads make good beer and would appreciate me giving it the best I could.

Shouldn't have bothered.

From the beginning this beer is brilliant. You've got a nice malt character, not sweet, but robust, there backing up the bittering hops - giving way to some lovely floral aroma hops that you can also catch on the nose. Exquisitely balanced and welcoming, The Fixer has a warming caramel and toffee body, followed up by a long finishing hop personality. There is a certain sweetness there that leads you into the flowery hop and allows you to gently permit that tone to take over. But not dominate, by the time that hoppiness dissipates you are ready for more. And it just keeps coming, that deep sweetness offset by those forward hops, balancing flavours in an almost perfect union.

Someone said to me "It's not a Red, it's an Amber Ale" - and maybe they're right. But "Red Ale" it proudly states on the label, and "Red Ale" it shall be known. But Ruby it pours, a deep incredibly inviting deep-red colour.

Irish Breweries, take back the name. Make it great. Make it something worth striving for. O Brother have certainly succeeded.

I moved on then to The Chancer. Having been absolutely impressed by this beer earlier in the year on both tap and in Growler, I was waiting to see what this would be liked bottled.

I immediately got that piney and resinous hop profile front and centre, but it's not totally overpowering, and that biscuity malt sweetness is allowed to present itself on the nose. Lime, grapefruit and orange pith are making themselves known.

I won't dwell on this one too long, it's not too dissimilar to the draught/growler version, perhaps the malt is a little more forward, but it's still the same perfectly drinkable American Pale it always had been.

O Brother are creating an excellent core range, which is letting them put some creativity into smaller batch brews like the excellent Bonita Black IPA - which was probably the best beer produced in Ireland this year.

Bring it back guys!