Monday 16 August 2010

Pete Drinks: Black Isle Red Kite Ale


Name: Black Isle Red Kite Ale

ABV: %4.2

Bottled/ Draft: Bottled

Bottle Conditioned: No

Bottle Size: 500 ml

Price: £2.19 from Abel & Cole

Colour: Amber

Clarity: Bright

Head/ Bubbles: Short lived head, not over fizzy. Positively exploded from the bottle, which is surprising for a non-bottle conditioned beer.

Mouthfeel: Fine bubbles, almost bottle conditioned.

Taste: Gentle malt flavour, well balanced with the hops.

Comment: A very easy drinking beer, that is a clear winner over the brewery's Yellowhammer (which is, rather oddly, the award winner!) - it's possible that it's just down to the fact that this beer seems to handle being bottled far, far better. Far from the 'tizer' feel of it's stablemate, the fizz is well controlled and doesn't overwhelm what is a tasty and enjoyable bottle.

4 comments:

celia @ fig jam and lime cordial said...

I'm not much of a beer drinker, but I do love the name! Why "Red Kite", I wonder?

Pete Favelle said...

I've always assumed it was named for the bird, although the brewery doesn't seem to say so...

celia @ fig jam and lime cordial said...

Aah, of course! Pleb that I am, I was thinking in terms of paper and string kites.. :)

Anonymous said...

I'm drinking a bottle of this now. Very nice indeed.

R