Fire and Blood Red Ale

Back in April, I reviewed Iron Throne Blonde Ale in honour of the season four premier of HBO's utterly excellent and thrilling Game of Thrones. Today, I'm book-ending that post with a review of Fire and Blood Red Ale in honour of the GoT season finale tomorrow night.  Fire and Blood comes from Brewery Ommegang's Game of Thrones beer series. It's a Belgian-style red ale brewed in Cooperstown, New York. Sold in corked 750mL bottles, Fire and Blood features the image of a dragon on the label. It clocks in at 6.8% and, according to the label, is brewed with ancho chilies, and also uses rye and spelt malt.

The ruddy brown grog is very cloudy, surprisingly lively in the carbonation department, and pours with an endless, loose, off-white head. The nose is malty, but also considerably peppery, with some satisfying hops elements off in the distance. The flavour is big on yeast and malt in the early going. The rear guard has a reliably dry hop presence and some spice imparted by the chilies and the rye.  Actually, I found the chili notes to be admirably restrained--they don't colour everything about this beer, but provide a favourable uptick of heat on the aroma and on the back end.

Fire and Blood Red Ale is not the type of beer that I'd trot out on a regular basis, but it does make for an interesting occasional treat.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.