Kells Irish Style Lager

I bid you a happy St. Patrick's Day! My previous musings from last year can be found here. I stopped by Calvert to pick up something appropriate to celebrate the day with, and chose this brew, which I have not sampled before. I may have chosen poorly...

Vitals:

• Name: Kells Irish Style Lager
  

• Brewery: Rogue Ales
  

• Style: Premium American Lager (Category 1C, BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines)

• Alcohol: 5.0%

• Serving: 22-ounce bottle, chilled, served in a freezer-stored "Playing for Keeps" pint glass

Scoring (in solidarity with Charlie the Beer Guy):

• Appearance: 3 - Pours a dark straw color, mostly clear, but with a slight precipitate haze towards the bottom. The frothy white head slowly fades to a clumpy film.

• Aroma: 3 - Very low, with grainy malts and the barest hint of apple.

• Taste: 3 - Fairly crisp and dry upfront, with mild grainy flavor balanced with hop bitterness. The latter persists in the center as the malt fades. No other notable flavors detected. A slight bitter remainder in the finish that fades swiftly.

• Mouthfeel: 3 - Light, but not overly watery. Well-carbonated with a slight bite.
  

• Holistic: 2 - Just didn't do it for me. This style is low down on my list, and my expectations of something described as an "Irish Style Lager" were quite disappointed.
  

• Overall: 14 - Post-drink research demonstrates that the intent of this libation was to create an "American beer that would float Guinness," done so by the owners of the Kells Irish Pubs of the west coast. In that, it seems they've succeeded - hence my disappointment in looking for a classically "Irish" beverage. Their website claims that this beer has a "green apple bite flavor," which would have made it far more interesting had I detected it. This would make a good session beer, however, if better choices were not available.
  

The Revolution, Revived!

The Revoluton is not dead! Merely... biding it's time.

The truth of the matter is that for a period of time, I decided to consolidate all of my blogging to my main website, thinking that it would be easier for me to maintain. On further reflection, I've discovered that this likely isn't the case - rather, it does make more sense to continue to post "food and drink" related matter here, for the sake of ease for both myself and you, the GLF convert.

Viva La Revolucion!

To this end, I've reposted here my take on the upcoming 2008 offerings from Dogfish Head, as well as my first two brew reviews - the Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron, and the Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine, 2008 Release.

I'd also like to highlight a couple of blogs that are furthering the work of the Revolution:

• #include {beer.h} - Tom from the Command Line podcast recently established this separate site for his own beer reviews and experiences. The punk is also aping my review format, but imitation = flattery, right? ;) (And to point out where respect is due, my template is loosely stolen from Thom, so I have little room to talk...)
  
• Garlic Is Love - Carrie from The Signal podcast has an obsession with all things culinary, and shares it here. She is a fan of both bacon and garlic, so that makes her site an imperative on my list!