December 1 - Evolution Craft Brewing - Exile Red Ale

Evolution Craft Brewing - Exile Red Ale

So we start off the month long blog tonight with a Red Ale from Evolution Craft Brewing in Maryland.  This is the first beer that I have had from this particular brewing company, despite the fact that they are relatively close to PA.  I haven't seen a ton of their stuff on the shelves up here as of right now, but maybe that'll change in due time!

I'm always up for trying a new brew, as well as a new brewing company.  To give full disclosure, Red Ales aren't high up there on my list of favorite styles, so I'll stay impartial from that standpoint.  If you're wondering why I purchased this to review in the first place, please start reading from the beginning of this paragraph.  After visiting their website and looking at the list of beers that they produce, there are a few that I'd like to try in the future!  Next time we get down to the Salisbury, MD area, this will definitely be a stop to make!

Now for the beer itself...This red ale pours a reddish brown color, true to style and leaves a thin bead of carbonation throughout enjoying this brew.  The aroma gives me a lot of cherry smell.  I'm not 100% on the cherry, but it is a distinctly fruity aroma.  When sipping this beer, I got a very malty and biscuit-tasting mouth feel.  Along with some caramel flavor, there is also some mild, definitely not overpowering, spiciness in the taste.  The finish is very pleasant for the beer drinking who does not like a hoppy taste at the end.  There is very little hop bitterness, which tells me, based on the list of hops that they use in brewing, the brewer did a very nice job balancing this beer.  

Nothing about this beer blew me away, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  For the red ale fan who wants to support a local craft brewer in their region as well as enjoy a relatively low ABV beer (5.9%), this may be for you!  

  If you're unfamiliar with my rating scale, anything below a 3 is either a macrobrewed beer or something that I wouldn't drink again unless I was at a wedding/party and it was free.  

That being said, strictly on style alone, this red ale gets a solid 3.5/5 from me.  I probably wouldn't go out of my way to find it, since the red ale style doesn't thrill me (have I said that yet?), but I would definitely enjoy this beer with friends if they bought it!

Thanks for reading and if you have any input, or something you'd like me to include in future reviews, feel free to comment below!