Strangford Lough St. Patrick’s Best and Legbiter Ales
It’s not often that I review more than one beer in a single post, but since I drank these on the same night, it only seemed appropriate.
Both of these bottles came complimentary from the brewery and proved to be wonderfully balanced session brews. Both also reminded me that I need to be more open to lower alcohol beers when I’m looking for something new to try. I tend to get caught up in looking for something “extreme” in both taste and ABV. These two finely crafted brews were just the reminder I needed.
First up is the 4.2% ABV best bitter St Patrick’s Best Ale.
Appearance
Pouring a rusty copper in color, this one has a quickly fading head that left traces of lacing on the glass.
Aroma
This brew has a balanced nose with toasted malt, light caramel and graininess. I want to say I got a little peatiness in there as well, but that may have been my mind playing tricks on me.
Taste
I enjoyed the malty and grainy character that this one has. There’s a light sweetness that lingers with a light hop presence in the finish. The mouthfeel was medium bodied and surprisingly more lively than I expected, which gave it a very refreshing quality.
Rating: 3/5
Next up was my favorite of the two, Legbiter Ale (which is named after King Magnus’ sword).
Appearance
Legbiter pours copper in color with a light tan head that faded to a light patch work on the surface.
Aroma
This one smells a bit lighter and more open than St Patrick’s Best. The malt backbone is there, but it’s accompanied by more of a hop presence along with some light spice. It smells darn tasty.
Taste
Legbiter is also the lighter bodied of the two beers with a decent level of carbonation activity. The malt and citrus hops are nicely balanced complimenting one another through each swallow. There’s a light hint of spice in the finish that also has a welcome bitterness. Again, the lower ABV (4.8%) and the active carbonation make this one quite drinkable and refreshing.
Rating: 3.5/5
Overall
I enjoyed both these beers a good deal. They were both well balanced, refreshing and clean. I preferred the wonderfully light hop addition to Legbiter a bit more than the more traditional St Patrick’s Best, but both went down smooth. These are readily available in 20 states so I’ll be keeping my eyes out for them more often.