Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Beer Review: Newcastle Werewolf



I'm a freak for the fall. If you are a regular reader of this blog you already know that. There is just something about it. Perhaps it's a nostalgia thing. Growing up in Northern Virginia the fall was always a special time for me. Football, Halloween, beautiful fall weather and the color change of the leaves. Living in New Orleans you don't really have the change in temperature(no seasons here, just hot and cold) or even the leaves changing like in Virginia. You'd think I'd be used to it by now having lived here since 1995.

Of course, I still look forward to football, Halloween and the somewhat cooler temperatures but the one thing I really look forward too is fall seasonal beers!! The fall seasonals always tend to be maltier, use lots of spices and go quickly since, just like Christmas decorations in Walmart, they tend to get pushed out of the way for "holiday" beers. In my opinion the maltier brews work well with the colder temperatures. And I just don't think a pumpkin beer would work in the summer. Just my opinion.

I was recently contacted by Elizabeth from Formula PR which handles the marketing for Newcastle and she said that Newcastle would be releasing a fall seasonal and asked if I would interested in reviewing it. I said of course and it arrived the next day via our friends at FedEx.

I was going to try and put off the review a bit since it was July but it appeared that in other states they already have this on the shelf so I figured it was time. Here is my review:


Brewery: The Caledonian Brewery Company Limited

Beer: Newcastle Werewolf

ABV: 5.0%

Style: English Brown Ale

Louisiana Availability: No

Price Range: Unknown

Appearance: Beer poured a ruby red with a huge, frothy off white head. Lacing present throughout the life of the beer.

Smell: Nice malty aroma with the sweet hint of berries and a nice slight grassiness. Dominate aroma of bread and yeast.

Taste: Strong malty flavor with hints of berry, bread and yeast. Slight metallic hint which disappears as the beer warms up. Slight bitterness in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with medium high carbonation.

Overall: Not a bad brew. Great for those crisp falls. It was supposed to have been released in September but seems to have been released in July. I wish we would see it here in New Orleans but I don't think we will.

Score: 3.5 out of 5 Buddhas Photobucket



Cheers!

The Beer Buddha

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well too bad it won't be in New Orleans :( Didn't even know Newcastle ever made any seasonals...or is this their first try?

The Beer Buddha said...

I've seen the Summer Ale before but this is the first for Werewolf.

Cheers!

BB

Resie Rae said...

Hmm. Guess I'll have to revisit this beer. That metallic black tea taste I got put me off.