North Coast Ruedrich's Red Seal Ale

I write this having drank my last of several of these beers I bought at Shangy's in Emmaus, PA. Quite the selection, though PA's case law is in effect there. No matter though, since most of the beers there are so good a case just fine. But since there were 3 of us there, we each bought something different and mixed and matched. The Red Seal Ale was "my" case.

From the name, I thought this was a red ale, so thats what I went in expecting. My first thought was that this beer was a little weak. Red Seal is technically an amber ale however. Its funny how your impressions of how something does taste change when they line up with your expectations of how something should taste. Red Seal turned out to be quite delicious.

Appearance: My first clue that this wasn't a red ale. Its not red! Its a nice amber hue, on the dark side. Kinda fluffy head (if you pour aggressively, it can get thick, and ends up resembling merangue. Not a bad thing, haha). It stays there till the end.

Smell: Pretty mellow, but with a little hop kick to it.

Taste: Like the smell, I thought it was fairly understated, till the hops take over the aftertaste. Nothing wrong with that, not every beer has to kick your ass. This is a refreshing beer.

Mouthfeel: Pretty bubbly, adds to its refreshing nature.

Drinkability: 5.5%ABV, 42 IBUs. Red Seal Ale is a lighter beer (for this blog at least), and would taste good this summer, but great all year as well.