George Killian's Irish Red - Coors Brewing Company

    George Killian's Irish Red is a Red Lager brewed by the Coors Brewing Company in Golden, Colorado. Killian's was the first beer I grew to like when first getting into beer, and has a special place in my heart.

    The Irish Red pours a clear, transparent copper color with a half-finger head of off-white foam. The brew almost looks more like tea than beer.

    Killian's aroma is light, with hints of sweet malts and light hops. Not much going on here.

    The beer is light bodied, almost watery, with a moderate to high level of carbonation. The body is pretty similar to other mass-produced brews.

How do you drive this thing!?

    This was my first purchase of Killian's in a long time. I noticed that it tasted little like the brew I remembered though, and did some research only to find that Coors did, indeed, change the recipe. This change is likely linked to the rising popularity of craft brews, and is an attempt to make the beer more appealing to craft beer fans. Killian's new flavor is mainly that of sweet malts, mostly caramel and toasted malt. There is only the slightest hint of hops in the beer. The flavor overall is quite mellow and a bit watery, which isn't surprising for what is more of a macro-brew than Coors would have you think. I honestly find myself missing the old flavor,which  was more unique than the general, mediocre Red Ale/Amber Ale flavor the beer now sports.

    As I previously mentioned, Killian's (or horse head red as I affectionately call it) has a special place in my heart due to it being the first beer I would drink. Part of that specialness, and likely the reason I latched onto Killian's in the first place, is that it is the brand of beer that my dad would pick when choosing drinks. I guess, in a way, drinking Killian's is sort of a way to feel closer to my father. This is another reason that I'm not very happy about Coors changing the flavor. Now it's just the label and name that give me the same feeling, and not the taste or aroma at all.

    The new flavor of George Killian's Irish Red gives up what made it unique in exchange for a more main-stream, macro-brew flavor. This change has caused Killian's to fall into the large pool of mediocre Amber and Red Ales, and likely off my radar. There isn't anything especially bad about the beer, but it's lost nearly everything that made it special to me, and different from other beers.

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Blue Moon Agave Nectar Ale - Coors Brewing Company

    Blue Moon Agave Nectar Ale is a spin on an American Pale Wheat Ale brewed by Coors Brewing Company in Golden, Colorado. This is Blue Moon's summer seasonal release. I'll have to admit that I'm already somewhat biased against Blue Moon beers, but I promise to give this one a fair chance!

    The ale pours a clear, pale straw color with lots of effervescent bubbles. A large, off-white head forms after pouring, but very quickly subsides to a thin film over the beer.

    The Pale Wheat smells of sweet wheat, almost like cereal. There is a slight earthy zing in the aroma as well that could either be from hops or the agave nectar. Overall though, the smell is pretty light.

    Blue Moon Agave Nectar Ale is medium bodied, and nearly syrupy in texture. There is a low level of carbonation, which I find surprising after seeing so many bubbles in the glass at pouring. For once I wish that there was a higher level of carbonation in a beer. The Ale has an alcohol content of 5.6% ABV.

Agave Nectar Ale growing in nature.

    The Pale Wheat Ale's malt flavors are extremely light and nearly not there at all. Cereal wheat flavor is present, as well as some corn sourness. These malt flavors are soon overtaken by an extreme sweetness from the agave nectar. This sweetness persists even after the ale is swallowed, and is almost overpowering.

    Agave nectar is an interesting flavor to try to describe. If you want to know just how sweet this ale is, imagine honey. Now add a little bit more of a vegetable/"green" flavor to honey and you have agave nectar. I'm guessing that the nectar was added after fermentation, as there would be much less sweetness to the ale and a much higher alcohol content.

    When I smelled the beer at first I was hopeful that I had found a Blue Moon variety that I would like, but was soon disappointed. What I mistook for earthy hops turned out to be the agave nectar which adds an almost unbearable sweetness to the beer. I would suggest that Blue Moon lightly hop this ale so that the sweetness is tamed down a bit by some bitterness. Otherwise, this beer is much too sweet for me to enjoy.

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