Ryan’s Redd’s Apple Ale Review – A Crisp Twist on Traditional Beer

I'm not necessarily what you would call a connoisseur of beer. I like beer quite a bit, but I generally stick to your everyday lagers, light beers, or whatever happens to be on sale when the mood strikes to enjoy an ice cold mix of hops and barley. With that said, I'm open to trying new things, and from time to time will grab a six pack of microbrew, or craft beer, as in the case with Redd's Apple Ale.

I have a couple of friends who brew their own beer. One that has been doing it for a number of years, and one who just started a few months ago. Like most home brewers, they both brew ales, for three reasons; 1) they both prefer the stronger beer flavor of an ale, 2) ales ferment at room temperature or warmer, whereas lagers must be refrigerated to ferment properly, which requires more equipment (i.e. more money), and 3) the brew time on an ale can be as little as seven days, while a lager can take a month or longer to properly brew.

Some of the most popular beers in the world are lagers, including Miller, Miller Lite, Coors Light, Budweiser, Bud Light, etc. Ales are darker and generally have a stronger, some would say, "bitter", others would say, "robust" flavor. Personally, I prefer lagers over ales, but I'm working on acquiring a taste for ales. Nobody like a quitter, right?

The Redd's official Facebook page says it's "brewed like an ale", that seems to be the where the comparisons between the two stop. It's light color resembles more of a lager, and it doesn't taste like ale, which I assume is the point.

A friend of mine from one of our sister-station's, who has never been a fan of beer told me he picked some up during a recent trip to the grocery store and really enjoyed it. So I grabbed a warm six pack at Schnucks over the weekend, and once I got it properly chilled (I buried a couple in the ice maker bucket of my freezer for about 20 minutes), I cracked open a bottle anxious to take my first swig and see what all the hype is about.

While you can't really smell the apple upon opening the bottle, it's certainly the dominate flavor, almost like drinking carbonated apple juice. If I had to classify it, I would put it more in the Red Delicious category, than say, the Granny Smith. Meaning the apple flavor is more sweet than tart. There's little to no "beer flavor" that I could determine. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. If you have sweet tooth like I do, Redd's will certainly satisfy it. However, if you're in the mood for a "beer" beer, you're probably better off going with something else.

I will give Redd's credit on its bubbliness. While it wouldn't produce the typical beer foam you get if you were to pour it into a glass, when you take a swig of Redd's and let it rest in your mouth for a few seconds, you can feel thousands of tiny bubbles popping on your tongue, much like my prom night (What???). These bubbles are what give Redd's a refreshing, crisp finish with little to no aftertaste.

Overall, I did enjoy Redd's, however I don't see it becoming my regular beer of choice when the mood strikes, which Redd's seems to be OK with based on the "About" section of their Facebook page which states, "this ale is for those times when you are looking to branch out and try something different."

I'd recommend giving Redd's a try for non-beer drinkers, or those who enjoy malt beverages such as Smirnoff.