BEER: Ninkasi Brewing Company Believer Double Red Ale

December 28, 2010

BEER: Ninkasi Brewing Company Believer Double Red Ale

Ninkasi Brewing Company ‘Believer’ Double Red Ale (Eugene, Oregon, USA)
6.9%, circa $4.50 for 750ml

Sadly this beer doesn’t come to Australia, which makes talking about it something of a tease. But if you’re USA bound I’d certainly recommend searching for a long neck of one of these beauties. Win.

What I really like about this is simply the depth of flavour. I’m a massive fan of red ales, but it’s as much a marketing term as a beer style these days. Which just makes the full, ‘Oktoberfest’ style brew even more satisfying.

In the glass (I’m drinking this out of a wine glass. Clearly I can’t help myself) this is ochre red in colour (surprise surprise). It smells of caramel malt and fresh hops, leading on to a palate that is toasty and dry, heavy with hoppy bitterness and dried barley flavours. It’s long, full and just a fraction heavy, though that length keeps you coming back for more (and the 750ml bottle and 6.9% seems to help that along too).

A proper rich red ale with lots of flavour, alcohol and stuffing, this is certainly not a summer beer, but my bottle is draining at speed regardless. Like it.

Beer, Oregon, Red Ale

Andrew Graham was once voted the 23rd most trusted wine critic on the planet. A WCA Journalism Young Gun now old hack with 25yrs as a buyer, judge, journalist, marketer and too much more.

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4 responses to “BEER: Ninkasi Brewing Company Believer Double Red Ale”

AndyPat

January 3, 2011 at 3:38 am

interesting incarnation of a red ale. It's not a flanders, irish, or an ocktoberfest. Typical yanks, they certainly mix them up, a doosra one minute, followed by a googly, bumper,and a curve ball the next. Mind you, I'd like a look at this particular bowling before having a crack after lunch..

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Anonymous

January 4, 2011 at 4:17 am

Not sure if you mean that "Oktoberfest" normally means an ale. Do you just mean a more "full on" version of a beer? Erdinger do an Oktoberfest Weizen (not a great Weizen either), so that's obviously an ale, but most Bavarian Oktoberfest beers are lagers as far as I'm aware. In fact, some have been lightened up over the years and reduced a touch in alcohol – grrr.

If you get a chance, try some sour Flemish red ales from Ichtegem or Rodenbach. They're as wine-like as darker beer gets.

MichaelC

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Andrew Graham

January 4, 2011 at 4:55 am

Ahh thanks Michael, I always thought that the Okterbest style was more of a rich ale rather than a session beer.

I do like the Chimay red in that vein (though that's more of a dubbel though isn't it?). Actually, I like everything Chimay…

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Anonymous

January 5, 2011 at 12:20 am

Used to be a Chimay fan, but go to Belgium or the Netherlands (Belgium but much cleaner! shocking generalization of course) and you'll see that there's so much more on offer!

I think Chimay has gone a bit backwards … or have my tastes changed? Or was I just not in the mood. Had a Grande Réserve 2010 (blue label with cork) a couple of days back and thought it looked a bit flabby and candy sugary (at least after some Fullers ESB – love Fullers). I used to drink it often.

Oktoberfest or Marzen (umlaut over the 'a') is certainly stronger in alcohol than the standard fare, and a bit more syrupy as a consequence. This works with a fair bit of non-pilsener malts to hide those sweeter flavours but there's been an attempt in some cases to lighten them up. I used to love the Paulaner Oktoberfest brew (think it once had Marzen on the label). It was rich and earthy with low carbonation, so I can see how you might think it more ale-like. But it wasn't top fermented as far as I can recall. Some Dunkels and Schwarzbiers can also seem more ale-like than lagers. I love these styles too.

I could be wrong on some of these points.

MichaelC

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