Hey Mon....Give me a Jamaican Brew (Old Glory Red, White and Blue Write- Off)
Written: Jul 01 '02 (Updated Jul 03 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy- drinking lager; not filling
Cons: Nothing unique or special
The Bottom Line: Red Stripe is a good beer for summertime, with its light body and thirst- quenching characteristics.
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| Bryan_Carey's Full Review: Red Stripe Lager Beer |
This is the first of three postings for my entry in the “Red, White, and Blue” write- off to celebrate American Independence Day, hosted by jay1051971. Be sure to read the reviews submitted by the other participants who are listed below
Deciding what to enter for this write- off entry took a little more time than I thought it would. At first, this seemed like a simple concept- just think of something to review related to red, then white, and then blue, and submit a separate entry for each one. Easy enough, right? Well, the more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t make up my mind. Should I write about a range of different topics, or submit all three reviews on the same general topic? What items include the word “white”? Should I center my reviews around some sort of theme?
I finally decided that I would go ahead and write my three reviews about beer and/or some other alcoholic beverage (go figure, huh). So, I went to the store and starting browsing the isles for some “colorful” beverages. For this, my first entry, I have decided to sample and rate a beer that’s popular in the Caribbean islands. It’s Red Stripe Beer, a lager brewed on the island of Jamaica.
Basic Characteristics of This Beer:
Red Stripe was first brewed in 1934, the creation of two men, Paul Geddes and Bill Martindale, who worked for the new Surrey Brewing Company in Kingston, Jamaica (The Brewing Operation was founded by Peter Desnoes and Paul Geddes). These two men brewed Red Stripe to be light and refreshing, making it an ideal summer thirst- quencher.
Poured into a glass, Red Stripe is golden in color with only a small amount of foam. Even an aggressive pour doesn’t result in much foaminess at all and what little you get dissipates quickly. The aroma is sweetish and just a tad “skunky” from the hops, but not overly so.
As far as the flavor goes, Red Stripe is similar to many mass- produced American lagers, but with slightly more body and character. The taste is a mixture of grain, hops, a small amount of fruit, and yeast, with the corn/barley taste dominating. A quick check of the ingredients used in this beer shows that the brewers at Red Stripe use malted barley, corn, yeast, hops, and water. It’s the addition of the corn that makes the beer light and gives it character that is similar to many American lagers. Red Stripe is smooth and easy to drink, and not very filling, just like many of its American- brewed cousins.
The alcohol level and calories are almost identical to a can of Budweiser, Miller, or Coors. Red Stripe has 5.04% alcohol by volume and there are 152 calories in a 12 oz. serving.
Food Compatibility:
This beer is often consumed with Jamaican specialty dishes like Jerk Chicken and Jerk Pork. When I visited Jamaica, Red Stripe was the most popular beer to drink with these native foods. Other than that, I don’t really think of this as a beer to imbibe along with food. I think this is best to consume all by itself, as a summer refresher.
Final Thoughts:
Red Stripe is a pretty good lager. Nothing really stands out with this beer, and there’s nothing about it that would make most people go out of their way to get their hands on a bottle. But it’s a little better than the majority of lagers brewed in the United States.
Because this beer is an import, many people rate it as being much better than it really is. I see the same thing happen with certain other imports, too, like Heineken and a few others. Just because it’s an import, Red Stripe seems to have more allure than other beer. But when you taste it, you can see that it’s not really anything special. It’s just another light lager, with the taste of cereal grains dominating.
Desnoes and Geddes sold the brewing operation in 1993 to Guinness Brewing. Today, Red Stripe is still brewed in Jamaica along with other beer in the Guinness family. It’s a popular brew in the island nation, where local natives take great pride in their locally brewed product. I recommend it as an occasional, agreeable, everyday beer to buy and drink. It won’t knock your socks off, but it’s acceptable to most and fractionally better than the typical American lager. Ask any Jamaican and they will say “Ya mon…Red Stripe is a good bru mon…..try some and zee for yourzelf”.
Remember to check out the “Red, White and Blue” write- off contributions from these Epinions members:
Dedemw
jeff_wilder78
Tom Barnes
Beckish
SusiDee34
Aerocat
Ned1
Bryan_carey
Jay1051971
ariel10575
donnie013
hawgwyld
Or, to check all the reviews, go to the following link:
http://www.geocities.com/ariel10575/epinions/oldglory.html
Recommended:
Yes
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