#8 Killian's Irish Red

The name Killian's is misleading, there is no Killian's brewery. This is the only beer to bear the name of George Killian. Originally the beer was brewed by a French brewery Pelforth, part of the Heineken group. In 1981 Coors brewery took over the name and reformulated it, Wikipedia calls it a Vienna lager but I think it fits the Irish Red Ale style well.

It's a dumb statement but this beer smells like beer, and I know that is what Kilian's (Coors) wants is to smell like. They worked hard at making this beer smell like what beer should smell like. A good rich malt with light crisp hops. The more I smell is the more the hops smell goes away and the sweet malt comes through much like a Irish Red should.

The color is a nice clear red with a good flow of small bubble from the bottom forming a little head at the top. The beer is clear enough to see through a departure from the unfiltered craft beer I've been drinking. The taste is a good sweet malt flavor with very little hops. I would suspect the hops were added at the end of the brewing to only add aroma and not much taste. The taste is so sweet and caramel tasting with no hops and no bitterness. I normally like this beer but as I pay close attention to it I think it is too sweet.

This is a fine beer to drink on a hot day when you want a beer, something cool and refreshing. But when your looking for something with body and hops and lots of big flavor this is a poor choice.