It’s almost Halloween so I figured what better way to celebrate than to drink beer. Ok, I don’t really need a reason to drink beer, but at least I’ll try some festive beers this week.
The first on my list to review this week is Werewolf, from Newcastle who is most well known for their brown ale. I heard about this beer awhile back and was looking forward to trying it out. Thanks to Newcastle for sending me out a few bottles to sample.
With a name like Werewolf, this beer had a lot to live up to. It’s labeled a blood red ale consisting of 5% ABV. They can call it what they want, but it seemed far from a red ale to me. I’ll get into that later.
Werewolf poured a redish copper color that was a lot brighter in the sunlight than when I brought it inside (were it just barely seemed red). There was a TON of carbonation bubbles gathering towards the bottom of my Newcastle glass. A decent fingers width of off-white head hung around the top for quite some time leaving some beautiful lacing.
The smell is pretty nice with a sweet grape flavor taking center stage. Woven in between the sweetness is a pretty solid malt and rye bread-like aromas. It almost had the smell of some fruit juice if it wasn’t for the malt in the background reminding me it’s actually a beer.
It’s mainly malt and rye upfront on my first sip with some sweet berry flavors and noticeable bitterness throughout. Like a teenager trying to find out who they are, this beer doesn’t seem to have an identity. It’s a bit all over the place and just doesn’t work for me. It almost seems like they just mixed Newcastle brown with a subpar red ale and called it Werewolf.
I’m sure some people might like this, but I just don’t really get it. It’s not terrible, just a little lost trying to find its flavor. I’d rather just stick with Newcastle Brown over this beer.
My Newcastle Werewolf Blood Red Ale Review: C+
Here are the details:
ABV: 5%
IBUs: ?
Style: English Brown Ale
What’s your thoughts on Newcastle Werewolf?
