For this week’s Tasty Brews, we went back to the Red Blazer, home of about 190 beers on tap (or 35, but who’s counting?).
It can be pretty overwhelming when you have that many choices, so we went with a tried and true technique: order the beer whose tap handle you’re sitting right in front of. In this case, that meant Steel Rail Extra Pale Ale from Berkshire Brewing Co. out of South Deerfield, Mass.
We hadn’t heard of Berskhire Brewing Co. before, which is odd considering it’s a Massachusetts company (this Insider is a Bay State native), so we went in with no expectations whatsoever.
The beer was very light and tasty at the same time – a rare and enviable feat. It gives the hops you want, but doesn’t bite your tongue. Its flavor is strong, but not overpowering. It’s also one of the few beers out there with virtually no aftertaste – wait a second or two after swallowing this one and you’ll forget you were even drinking a beer.
Another strong point of this beer is its alcohol content. At 5.2 percent by volume, Steel Rail falls right in that sweet spot for session drinking. It won’t knock you off your barstool, but you won’t mistake it for ginger ale, either. You can have a few without needing to take a break, which is nice.
Get it while it lasts, as fall beers will soon take over.
