Katy and Sasha are the contributors for Ottawa Beer Events! They have distinctly different palates and in this segment they go head-to-head tasting Ottawa beer. This week they sample Covered Bridge Brewing Company's Seoirse the Great.



I'm not a big Irish Red drinker. In fact, I think the only other Irish Reds I've had have been from macro breweries and may have contributed towards my dislike of Irish Reds. Then comes Covered Bridge Brewing Company's Seoirse the Great, a darker version with 6% ABV and a lot more going on in the glass. Seoirse the Great poured dark copper with ruby highlights and fizzy head that didn't stick around. The aroma was full on sweet with toffee, raisins and not a hint of hops. The flavour was more of the sweet toffee with dark fruits and a subtle dry roast grain finish. This is a smooth sipper with low carbonation which helps highlight the malt sweetness and slight alcohol warmth in every sip. Overally I enjoyed the beer, but this is definitely for someone who's palate sits on the sweeter side.

So far I've been a big fan of the beer that John vanDyk has been producing at Covered Bridge Brewing in Stittsville and his latest Seoirse the Great, an Irish red brewed in memory of his grandfather has followed this trend. At first when I poured mine I thought the bottles had gotten mixed up as it's on the darker scale for color, pouring pitch black, but it has a tinge of red when held up to the light. The caramel malt aroma grabbed my attention right away and continued in the flavour along with some sweet and rich toffee notes. At first sip I thought I was getting some hop bitterness on the finish but once I explored the beer a bit more I realized it was the flavour of the dark roasted grains coming through. Overall a really great choice for a fall beer with a reasonable ABV of 6%. If you like a beer with a spotlight on sweet malts and a dry roasted finish this is the beer for you!