Carlow OHaras Irish Red

Dark brown with a fleeting tan head. Aroma of peat, earthy malt, caramel sweetness. Lively carbonation and watery texture. Flavor was watered down brown ale. Nothing commendable.

Red colour with a small beige head. Sweet malty aroma with notes of grain. Malty flavour with notes of grain and caramel, with a hoppy finish. Very drinkable, but an average beer.

Nothing special in the nose. Maybe some hints of skunk. Pours a rather attractive deep red color. Taste is slightly bitter. There’s just nothing special about this beer. It’s not bad but at $9.99 a six pack I could get something just as good from a local brewer for a few bucks cheaper.

Fairly typical Irish ale, with a nice berry note in the otherwise dry flavor. Unfortunately it’s overcarbonated; too bad because it was on its way to being a nice brew.

Bottled, had it as Carlow Molings Traditional Red Ale. Reddish brown colour. Hoppy aroma, with hints of fruits. Very fruity and fresh taste. Smells more than it tastes though. Pretty much carbonation.

Clear deep copper red body, big puffy light cream head. Metallic, earthy, hoppy nose with rough grain notes hiding in the background. Very dry body, mostly earthy hops, toasty and without much caramel or fruit development that I expect from the style. A couple more sips and it’s apparent that there really isn’t much flavor at all. Ugh. A waste of money.

From what I hear, a new beer, and one that’s going to take over the market from Killian’s Irish Red... well go ahead, I don’t know many people drinkin’ Killians. Anyway, could this take over? Sure... it’s virtually the same. Same plain, malty taste, with a hint of metal. I was not overly impressed here.

Unlike the ratings that I’ve been glancing at, my bottle of Molings came without a head. Nice deep reddish-brown color, though. The smell is very sweet, almost caramel candy-like, with some roast barley undertones. A sticky drink, this has a sweet caramel taste with little else but some fruitiness to balance it out. To me, this drink is more interesting than it is good.