Today I’ll finish and post my announced opinion and glasses test with a beer I found in the Lidl Supermarket, Pale Wheat Ale a beer from the The Crafty Brewing Co
It’s a label of the relatively Young brewing company Rye River Brewing company (2013) in Kildare, Ireland, produced for an exclusive deal with Lidl supermarkets.
When visiting the website of this company (https://ryeriverbrewingco.com/) the first thing I see is OUR APPROACH TO MAKING BEER IS ALL ABOUT OUR VALUES, OUR PEOPLE AND OUR PROCESS, AND WE THINK IT’S A PRETTY GOOD WAY OF DOING THINGS.
I wanted to highlight this because I believe that putting your heart and soul in the production process is the way to go!
I’ve learned Rye River Brewing company made a while range of beers under this label American Style Brown Ale, as well as Irish Craft Pale Ale (which according to their website - https://ryeriverbrewingco.com/beer/irish-craft-pale-ale/ - has been awarded with a Bronze medal at the 2020 and 2021 World Beer Awards; and further on they have Lager, Stout, Red Ale, and Belgian Style. The last two are on my list of beers I’d like to try if they would continue to sell them in the local Lidl supermarket.
But this time it has been the American Style wheat Ale, which attracted me.
First of all because the marketing: a nice label, allthough I wouldn’t tend to make the label so full and “busy” with different styles and colours. Also the bottle, which was in a size and shape I’m not used to, was attracting me. When I started to read the label it was the Pineapple flavour that has wakened my curiousity in a way I couldn’t resist to buy a bottle of this beer. Who actually could when reading “THIS FULL FLAVOURED ALE HAS A NOSE OF PINEAPPLE AND TROPICAL CITRUS THAT COMES FROM THE CASCADE AND MOSAIC HOP VARIETIES. ITS LIGHT BISCUIT MALT AND CLEAN LASTING BITTERNESS WILL BE A TALKING POINT LONG AFTER THIS BOTTLE IS EMPTY.” Wow, if this beer tasts only half like it reads, it will be a great experience!
9 awards, I think the most important one being the silver medal at the 2021 World Beer awards, but enough theory now, and let’s get to the more important stuff…
Now before tasting it…. In which kind of glass a beer with a pineapple flavour could be appreciated??? So I decided to try it in 2 different glasses. I used my Kwaremont glass in case the smell needs to open and a Carlsberg glass in case it would need to contain carbonisation and freshness.
The second guess was the right one to make the beer come to its best taste! Foam stays a little longer and could be appreciated together with the freshness this “pineapple flavour” gives to the beer. In the end the pinapple flavour was not exaggerated present but it gave a fruity and crispy touch to the beer, which was a pleasant surprise.
Bitterness is well balanced and 5% alcohol is perfect to drink it on a hot summer day to lessen the thirst, but at the same time to enjoy it as an elaborated, craft beer!
Congratulations to the Rye River Brewing Company and to Lidl for this wonderful colaboration which allowed us to get to know this great beer!
