United Nations of Beer

Boulevard Irish Ale

by Chris Perrin
(Beer Delegate, MO, USA)

Boulevard Irish Ale

St. Patrick's Day is here again! Green beer, parades, debauchery. What more could anyone possibly ask for? A selection of seasonal beers perhaps? Not a problem.

St. Paddy's Day is the celebration of drinking, a modern bacchanalia if you will, rather than a celebration of St. Patrick, whose deeds I had to Google to remember. So it makes perfect sense that a number of breweries have begun to produce Irish or St. Patrick's Day brews.

The Boulevard Brewery, located in Kansas City, Missouri, champions this trend with Boulevard Irish Ale.

Technically, this red ale is a winter beer and is available from January through April, but the name and the footsteps it tries to fill make it a fitting companion for those looking to make their March 17th a little more about the flavor.

According to Boulevard's website, this beer combines six different types of malts to create an ale reminiscent of Old World Irish red ales. While I cannot speak to how closely it lives up to tradition, I can say that the Irish Ale has a much more potent flavor than a Killian's Irish Red, which is one of the more commonly available red ales on the market.

Whereas Killians is refined and subtle, Boulevard Irish Ale is much more raw and has an intense flavor of carmel and malt that coats the tongue for a few long seconds before washing away.

One of the problems with Irish Ale is that it lacks refinement and cohesiveness in its flavor. There is a lot going on in the bottle, with caramel in the front of the mouth and an odd, hefeweizen-like aftertaste that makes about as strange a pairing as it sounds.

To be honest, when I first tasted Boulevard Irish Ale I did not really care for it. I was not sure what to expect when I bought the six pack, but I was hoping for something a little more like Guinness (also an Irish tradition.)

But I got something that was definitely not Guinness! Still, it was good that I bought a six pack because it gave me time to do a little more experimentation and the Irish Ale started to grow on me.

The flavor of the beer reminded me of a much hoppy version of a Pilsner Urquell. It's an odd comparison, but my thought process went something like, "This isn't a dark beer... hrmm. Hey, Pilsner Urquell." Hey, I try to go with my instincts.

In the end, I am probably not going to keep my house stocked with this beer. I think that beer lovers who like Killian's are going to find Boulevard Irish Ale too different to be enjoyed thoroughly and the overall finish of the beer just left something to be desired.

That's not to say I will not order a pint or two of it when I am out and about this St. Paddy's Day, but I am not going to tell all my buddies they have to grab a pint of Boulevard Irish Ale for themselves either.