The Ominous Otherworld Oracle


Brewery and Country of Origin: Fort Collins Brewery of 1020 East Lincoln Avenue, Fort Collins, CO, 80524, USA

Date Reviewed: 12-12-12

The end of the World is fast approaching, and though the Ancient Mayans' prediction has spawned a seemingly infinite supply of conspiracy theories and superstitions, today's special once in a lifetime repeating date of 12-12-12 (at 12:12:12 pm) has done its fair share to spook or fascinate the world as well. Yes, because the next time this will happen is going to be January 1st, 2101 (at 1:01:01 am/pm), it's very unlikely you'll see this on the calendar again... unless you're a marathoner and all you eat is hippie, organic, natural, gluten free, unprocessed, fair trade, unpreserved, free range superfood smoothies. But for us humans, we will just have to make do with today, and in fact we have. The inticing date has inspired many couples to get married today (for an easy to remember anniversary date), and others have even decided to mark today as the founding date for new small businesses. And apparently, today is a good day to make an investment, or purchase a new, big ticket item like a car or a house. If the world is really coming to an end on Friday next week, then perhaps this is the world's pregame party. And although we reviewed a beer which pays tribute to the restart of the Mayan Long Calendar, we have another beer here which owes its name to a mythological figure originating from Irish folklore. This is the Red Banshee, a red ale out of Colorado, which is an homage of the Banshee, a red haired woman spirit who would appear and weep in the presence of an important person's impending death. The Banshee essentially foretold the death of people, and her cry of sorrow would be heard for miles. Sometimes she would appear as an ugly heinous witch, while other times she'd be a beautiful woman, and sometimes, she'd appear in the form of a crow, hare, or weasel, all of which were commonly associated with witchcraft in Ireland. The idea is that you could hear her cry and wails if someone is close to their end. It was told that sometimes these wails were so bad that her voice could shatter glass. Unfortunately, much like Mexico's ancestors, we have nothing terribly good to say about the Banshee, other than she inspired the name for this Centennial State brew... unfortunately, we have nothing terribly good to say about that, either.
Date Sampled: 12-05-12 At: 7 Prescott Place, Allston, Boston, MA, 02134, USA
Beer Style: American Red Ale
Alcohol by Volume: 5.30%
Serving Type: 12 oz Bottle, 16 oz Tumbler Glass
Rating: 2.46

Look

As implied by its name and style, Red Banshee has a rusty reddish color with a fine sediment haze. There is a very low amount of carbonation action, giving this beer a smooth pour and a very thin, weak, and relenting quarter inch foam head with little retention. This beer produces very little lacing.

Aroma

The weak foam head gives off an equally impotent aroma with some traceable malt, a good amount of sweet and deep fruity notes, as well as a slightly noticeable amount of alcohol. There is no presence of hops in the aroma, as this is mostly a sweet and malty brew.

Feel

This is a medium light bodied beer with a low amount of carbonation, which gives off a feeling of dullness and some weight. This is not a refreshing beer, nor is it crisp. A small amount of alcoholic induced heat is given off after the close, which has no lingering effect. This beer has a low to medium viscosity. This beer finishes with a wet and unclean finish.

Taste

A big and bold fruity taste is immediately detectable, and quickly shifting toward a more traditional reddish, medium roasted malt flavor until the end, where a moderate amount of hoppy bitterness is present. There is some alcoholic flavor mixed in as well as a short lived plum like aftertaste.

Our Take

Though this is an all-knowing and mythological beer, it can't deliver a good experience. Perhaps that's because its only real powers are breaking windows, making people go deaf, and predicting one's death... nothing too pleasant. Either way, even big red or amber inclined beer lovers aren't going to find this brew particularly satisfying, as its anemic aroma and confusing flavor and unceremonious finish are all big turnoffs. The large presence of fruity notes was too much for this kind of beer, as well as the fact that although this beer's alcoholic content was an average 5.30%, its presence was known from the first sniff, to the last sip. This beer did have some nice malty notes, as well as a traditional appearance. And though it had a dull feeling overall, it was still easy to drink, as well as comfortable to swallow. Unfortunately, unless a fruity reddish ale is your thing, you're not going to be happy when you hear the wail of the Red Banshee.