Kingpin Double Red Ale is one of the best light beers I had tasted. This beer made from Bridgeport Connecticut starts out innocently enough with its ruby red clarity. Immediately it gets’s comfortable and relaxes with an exceptionally strong, khaki-colored, white cap. And much like those annoying companions, it recedes slowly, leaving behind a ragged trail of lace behind.
Giving the glass a healthy swirl and generating some air into the glass we place it under our nose only to be inspired by aromas of sweet caramel, bitter pine and fresh cut grass, its aroma is one of the factors why it is considered as one of the best light beers in Connecticut. Among other beer reviews, its aroma is considered the best!
Its smell was more on the mix of spicy and floral thing which is a good combination for me. Other beer reviews for this agreed with my opinion that its hops were a good factor for its smell. It is a bit bready, malty and some yeast is present when you smell it a bit longer. I may say, the smell was not bad.
Initial taste of this best light beer is very sweet almost nutty malt like chestnuts followed by an assertive blast of earthy hops that carries forever. Very bold and flavorful! Not overly complex, just a nice balance between the malts and hops, and I personally feel the aggressive hoping gives this beer a unique taste, more similar to a “Marzen” than a red. Its taste would definitely be another plus factor for it.
The taste was cherry cream soda turning into hops then turning into light chocolate and turns hop again. It is surprisingly un-hoppy, considering this is "triple hopped." It's actually quite mild overall, but quite pleasant. The alcohol is well hidden by the hop and cherry flavors. In general, the Kingpin ends up tasting like normal, old red ale. A good red ale, but certainly not as extreme as you might expect given the "double" and "triple" on the label. The taste might be a bit disappointing for me. So I guess, I won’t agree with some beer reviews regarding its taste considering its one of the best light beers of Connecticut.
My conclusion for this “best light beer” would be 3 out of 5. For being "triple hopped", I agree that this was disappointing and perhaps a failed attempt at making an amped up red ale. I would think BridgePort could make this a lot “hoppier” and big, as they did with their Hop Czar IPA, and still call it a "double red". This is my only complaint against this beer. I got mad respect for BridgePort as a hallmark of the Portland beer scene; I know they can do this one better. But still, aroma and smell are good; truly deceiving. I guess this beer is recommended for parties and dinner dates. I think this could be appreciated these times.
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