Wexford Irish Style Créme Ale. 5% abv. Amber-copper color with two fingers of dense white foamy head, the kind that often comes from nitro cans. Superb retention and outstanding lace. Nose of sweet corn, light caramel, bread. Front taste of light malt, herbal hops, slight sweet veggie on the back end. Aftertaste is creamed corn, mild bitter, yeast on the sustain. Medium body. Mouthfeel is cool, creamy, silky, slightly thick, sticky on the front of the tongue.

This is an enjoyable old world beer that has some unexpected macro brew traits. While the head and body are on point with a silky nitro mouthfeel, the aroma and aftertaste bring to mind corn adjunct lagers. To be clear, this is certainly not a cheap adjunct brew, but it has flavors that bring them to mind.

I really wanted to *love* this beer because I have a deep love for old world classics as well as modern craft beers. Sadly, the cheap pedestrian components defy its heritage. The overall taste is pleasant with light malt and a background bitter, but is interrupted by an aftertaste that approaches canned corn. A lot of good and bad stuff here, with the good stuff tipping the scale. Barely.  Mildly recommended.

From the brewery:

"Based on a traditional Irish recipe from County Wexford that dates back to 1810, we use only the best ingredients to ensure that our Wexford Ale has a smooth mellow creaminess we believe you will enjoy... Following in an age-old tradition only the freshest, most natural ingredients are used to create the smooth mellow taste of our Wexford Ale."

[source: can]

House of Pendragon 'Crème de la Kremlin' Imperial Stout. 9.5% abv. 80 IBU. Black in color. Thick, creamy tan head. Good retention. Superb lace. Nose of roasted grain, smoky wood, chocolate, dark fruit. Front taste of roasted, sweet malt, bitter fruit, plum. Aftertaste of bitter hops, smoke, hickory, raisin on the back end. Full body. Mouthfeel is hot, creamy, thick.

This is an extraordinary imperial stout, with its Spanish Cedar aging coming through in the long sustaining aftertaste, and a bitter flavor profile that is balanced well against the slightly sweet fruit notes. As the temp drops the aroma becomes rich with the Cedar wood. Wonderful. Highly recommended.

From the brewery:

"Crème de la Kremlin is our yearly Russian Imperial stout. It's like no other RIS that you have ever had. This beer has been aged with Spanish cedar for two months to add to its rich complex flavors. CDLK has an intense dark dried cherry, chocolaty roastyness in the aroma. These aromatics follow through to the flavor where it melds with rich slightly velvety texture with a slight hickory wood flavor in the finish. Don’t miss out on this beer. We will be releasing it tomorrow for new beer Thursday. We are only releasing a few kegs of this beer while it’s young, and aging the rest for special releases throughout the year. So get it while you can."