Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Ommegang Brewery - Game of Thrones "Fire and Blood" Red Ale

Thought you'd heard the last of me, eh?

Hello and welcome back to what's on tap and served cold, where brews get imbibed.  I know some of you are excited for the new season of Game of Thrones in April, so excited! So scared! Not me though, I'm not really a fan, and I have books to read.  But I know for you Westerosi, three more months is a long time to wait.  So, ease your anticipation by trying another of the Ommegang Brewery's licensed brews from your favorite fantasy series. Today we've got the batch from the Season 4 premiere,  the "Fire And Blood" Red Ale.

The first thing that jumps at you is the label art, there are three different labels depicting each of Daenerys Targeryan's fire-breathing gamebreakers.  You are under no obligation to collect all three, they're just nifty. I hope there's prints of the dragon art that can be purchased. I should look that up. 

The label reads, "Born of fire, like Daenerys' dragons, this ale's deep, dark red hue evokes their every blazing breath. Sweet malt succumbs to wispy dryness, tinged with nutty spelt, spicy hops and rye, as ancho chilies portend piquant dark fruit.  Pour slowly, to not disturb yeast sediment, but with vigor to make a luxurious head and free the bouquet." Wonderful, my beer has an instruction guide. And a cork. Take care in opening this up, it's not like champagne. For one, you'll actually want to drink this.

On my first pour, there is a head thicker than dragonscale, and more unruly than a hungry Drogon with vigorous bubble popping. The body is dark red, and cloudy with yeast. It has favorable parallels to a heifeweizen, with its cloudy yeast body and a rich vibrant bouquet.  To me, it was ripe with corriander, what at first I thought was clove but really was the chilies, some floral and fruity notes. I swear I could detect the presence of banana in this batch, probably from the diversity of the malts: pilsner, Cara-60, Midnight Wheat, flaked rye and spelt. There's also a vibrant hops flavor, a mix of CTZ, Styrian Golding, and German Tettnang, that pairs well with the de-seeded Ancho to give its bite some real teeth. The hoppy chilie bite smooths out at the back of your tongue. The malt and the chilie balance out, the sweetness of one and the bitterness of the other. A full bodied, powerful brew, like Balerion of ages past.  Speaking freely, this goes straight to your head, one bottle will knock you on your ass, I'm not even kidding. What's the alcohol content for this? By the Seven, 6.8% ABV?! Drink this with friends, my friends. I bet a slice of blood orange would compliment this like crazy. This is so good. The Ommegang brewers put in overtime to make this one special!

This is encouraging for the quality of the next licensed brew, an Abbey Dubbel named "Valar Morghulis." I'll report on my findings as soon as I find a bottle. Till then, I'm your humble beer blogger, and the bar is closed.


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