Try?
Shortly after I moved to Georgia almost 9 years ago, I fell in love with the local Dogwood Brewing Company. Sadly, they went out of business a few short years later, but I still believe they brewed the best beers available in Georgia, even to this day. Should you not believe me, just take a trip to Alpharetta and have a few beers at Five Seasons North. Crawford Moran, Dogwood's old brewer, practices his craft there today.
But while Dogwood's beers were an instant favorite, the beers of Atlanta Brewing Company were a bit more stealthy and seductive inn their appeal. Indeed, the more I drank of their Red Brick Ale, a delightfully malty German-style Altbier, the more fond of it I became.
With Dogwood gone, Atlanta Brewing quickly became my favorite local brewery; more so than the much larger Sweetwater, and the more recent Terrapin. The only downside was that they didn't diversify and experiment as much as Sweetwater and Terrapin eventually did, and even when they did the specialty brews, with a few exceptions, were draft-only and hard to find.
Little by little, that's changing. Witness Red Brick 15 Anniversary Ale, a bigger, bolder, stronger, and perhaps most importantly, bourbon barrel-aged version of the classic Red Brick Ale. Red Brick 15 Anniversary Ale is made with 7 malts and several varieties of hops and spent over a year aging in wood. You just have to respect that kind of patience and forethought. The beer is packaged in 22-ounce bomber bottles, and apparently Red Brick will be releasing more beers that way. This is certainly a good idea, as Terrapin and Sweetwater have been doing this with success for some time.
Red Brick 15 Anniversary Ale was released in December of 2009, but somehow this is the first time I've seen it. Production was limited to a few hundred cases. It's been flying off the shelves as soon as it lands in the store, but I did manage to find a few bottles tucked away in a cooler at Sherlock's in Kennesaw, Georgia. So, I forked over my $9.95 for a bottle, and the rest is history.
So, popping the bottle the night I bought it, what did I think? Simply Amazing, that's what.
Red Brick 15 Anniversary Ale pours to a muddy reddish brown color with a minimal head formation and an absolutely potent whiskey nose. Taking a sip, I absolutely love the complexity of this beer: dark, slightly nutty and chocolaty maltiness underneath, almost reminiscent of chocolate chip cookies in the sweet dark maltiness there. Then the accents come through: rich vanilla, woody oak, and in the finish, a delightful hint of tartness.
The incredibly complex bourbon notes really add much to this beer, as does the subtle but definitely noticeable alcohol burn in the finish. Indeed, the complex finish makes this one seem lower in alcohol than it really is. Red Brick does not give the alcohol strength on the label, though the always informative http://atlantabeermaster.com quotes the brewery as saying the beer is between 9% and 10% alcohol by volume.
For my part, I'll be back to pick up a few more bottles for aging. This delightful sipping brew should be good for a few more years at least, and I for one would be interested to see how it holds out for five-just in time for the brewery's 20th anniversary.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
