This one comes to us brewed by the fine folks at the Real Ale Brewing Co, in Blanco, Texas. It is brewed in the style of an American Pale Ale. Beers of this style tend to be heavy on the malt with a slight hoppiness to them, a moderate ABV and a slight scent of Belgian yeast. Typically similar to an American lager, these usually have a little more flavor and character. Not long ago, Real Ale repackaged this one as being brewed by the Alamo Beer Company, and renamed Alamo Golden Ale in honor of the Alamo defenders.
This one pours a light straw yellow, with a small amount of cloudiness, into a pint glass. Minimal head that leaves you far too quickly. Lacing is o.k., however it does not stick around.
A little different than when I tried it as Alamo Golden Ales, the malt aroma still hit me right away with the strong malt aroma. Although this was almost more reminiscent of Budweiser. Yeast undertones still balanced this out and saved it a little.
Upon first taste, this was almost exactly like a Budweiser. Although Bud is a lager, The heavy malt reminds you of it. The longer it lingers in your mouth the more the attempt to make prominant the Belgian yeast strain becomes. A very minimal hop flavor rounds this out with a hint of citrus.
Overall, this was more than I expected, but less than I hoped for. the yeast definately gave it more character than a typical mass produced American lager, but I will not be anxious to repaet. This one weighs in at around 5% ABV and will not knock you over.
Do not recommend this one again…
I like Alamo Golden better than Fireman’s 4. The former tastes like an ale. Like you, I don’t see Fireman’s 4 as being a huge improvement over bud. It’s amazingly popular in Austin. On tap just about anyplace they have taps.