Irish Ale - Boulevard Brewing, Kansas City

It's that time of year again, and the snow is still falling but it's melting much faster now. Spring may still be further off than you'd like but it's harbinger is fast approaching. The Saint Patrick's Day seasonals have already started hitting the shelves so you know the big day isn't that far off. Boulevard's Irish Ale is the first St. Pat's seasonal I've seen thus far, but that just means the others will be showing up soon. While I was excited to seen something other than a Winter Warmer in the seasonal section of the beer cooler, I was exactly thrilled at the prospect of drinking another Irish Ale...

This is a beer I've had many times before but never really got excited about. It's not a bad beer, I remember it being red, malty and a little more bitter than I'd like. Seeing as how I haven't given this beer a proper review yet I went ahead and picked up a bottle. Boulevard's Irish Ale is a cloudy red beer that smells like liquid grains, a little malt and a hint of caramel. The flavor of the Irish Ale is better than I remember. Now, this wasn't an epiphany, the flavor is pretty much what I expected... but a little better than I remember.

Boulevard's Irish Ale is more well balanced than I was expecting, the malt is mellow rather than being overly sweet. This is great because this beer isn't strongly hopped or all that bitter. The overall flavor of this beer is like that of a lightly caramelized barley tea with just a dash of hops.

I'm liking this Irish Ale much more than I remember, but it still isn't anything to write home about. Would I drink it again? Sure, but I'd explore my other options carefully beforehand.