Origin: Spain
Type: Amber ale
Color: Red
Alcohol content: 5.2%
Recommended serving temperature: 7ºC/45ºF
Brewery: Cervezas Far West
I have decided to write today about a fantastic amber ale, the Far West Red Wine Ale.
The brewery's curious name is a tribute to its place of origin, Almería, used as a set for around five hundred different spaghetti westerns, some of them pretty renowned, such as the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
The beer itself is a brownish red colored amber ale with a limited amount of foam. It is slightly darker than many amber ales but it pretty much follows the characteristics of this sort of beer in terms of taste and smell.
The first whiffs you get upon opening the bottle are a mixture of caramel-like sweetness and toasted malts. However, after a few minutes of the bottle being open, once you have poured it and let it air out, the aromas start becoming slightly more complex.
The caramel is still there, but it gets somehow tinged with a peachy fruity smell, thick, creamy and sweet.
The toasted malts are also there, but they evolve as well, becoming slightly more nutty than bitterly toasted.
Its taste largely follows suit, and you can once again appreciate a mix of fruity nuttiness. It is definitely ruled by the sweet fruitiness, which is the first thing that hits your mouth, but it is somehow well balanced immediately by a drier nut flavor which softens up the sweetness an ultimately gives it a slightly bitter finish.
The dominance of the peach and the nuts is pretty clear here, engulfing the caramel and toasted malts that can be noticed in the smell, almost to the point of making them practically disappear.
The mouth-feel of this beer is quite surprising. It is thick, buttery and watery at the same time. It mixes a thick and meaty feel with a soft and creamy, velvet-like texture, but is also a little watery at times. It is almost like they have just thrown a peach in a blender, skin and everything and you can feel both the fruit and the skin on your tongue.
This curious mouth-feel and the nice balance struck between the sweet fruitiness of the peach and the subtle taste of the nuts are probably the most noteworthy aspects of a beer which is also incredibly versatile in terms of pairing.
I found myself having this beer with a plate of serrano ham, which was not what I had originally envisaged for it, but which went surprisingly well, given the toasted smell and the nuttiness. I guess you could say I honored its name, used it as a substitute to red wine and it stood up to the test. I am however quite convinced the peachy sweetness would make it ideal to pair with desserts, such as for example a creamy plain cheesecake, a flan, or a crême brulée. Whatever your choice this beer can take it.
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