Red Stripe

Brewed by Desnoes and Geddes (Diageo PLC)
Style: Pale Lager
Kingston, Jamaica

$1.29 12 oz. stubbie single at Total Wine & More in Kennesaw, Georgia. After some years of viewing commercials where a Jamaican guy sells beer in little, brown, squashed-down bottles and ends his commercial my shouting "HOORAY BEER!" it’s time to give Red Stripe another try. Appearance: Pours a clear, yellow body with a large, foamy, white head. Rather nice lacing, I must say. Smell: Faintly sweetish nose smelling of light pale malts, spicy hops, and maize (akin to smelling a Frito corn chip). Taste: Light pale malts, yes, a bit corny, and with a light amount of sweetness. Mild spicy hop character and bitterness. Finishes sweetish and crisp. Slight metallic hint lingers into the aftertaste. Mouthfeel: Light-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: Sure, there’re better lagers, but there are also far, far worse ones to be found. The metallic aftertaste definitely mars it’s overall drinkability, but, beyond that, it’s really just another pale lager.

The ubiquitous 12 ounce bottle from Whole Foods Market, Charlottesville... not that the location is important. Pours a light golden color with a medium fizzy head, very poor head retention and no lacing. Very grassy aroma with some sweet corny notes. Taste is almost the opposite. Sweet corn and sweat with some bitter grassy notes in the finish. Decent for a mass produced pale lager.

Rating #1600! To celebrate I got a mad fat bottle of Red Stripe. It sucks. Sickening sweet corn syrup smell and taste. This isn’t beer (too many fucking adjuncts); it’s an alcoholic soda. Bluck.

i saw a 24 ounce bottle so i decided to give it a try, overall it was a drinkable beer but not even near the top of my list.

Hooray, Beer! I picked up a few six packs of this lager in preparation for my election party. My object, drink a Red Stripe for every state that went red. I don’t remember much from that night, so it’s a good thing I took notes... I poured from the bottle into a double-walled pint glass. The pour produced a light, golden-yellow body, topped by a white head of foam. The head diminished, leaving islets of foam, with some lacing clinging to the sides of the glass. The nose is malty, with strong hints of grass and skunk. The carbonation (forced, I’m sure) dominated the first sip, providing a watery, fizzy mouthfeel. Some initial sweetness provided by the malts are quickly overwhelmed by a metallic bitterness, which subsided quickly. This is comparable to most pale lagers we find mass-produced throughout the world, though I think it has a better appearance than most, and isn’t totally without flavor. It suited it’s purpose and will be used again should the electoral college deem it necessary.

Pours a clear, pale yellow with a modest, small white head. Aromas of cereal, corn, grass, and some skunk. Taste is typical pale lager with some light hops and expired apple juice. Sweet, unoffensive aftertaste. This is okay. It gets bonus points for the uniquely shaped bottle.

Clear gold with modest white head / Nose of grain and honey / Medium body, sweet, malty with light hops, and good finish / Flavors of honey and grain / Simple and overly sweet.

Bottle. An ok beer, but terrible commercials. Helping white people puke for 70 years.