[Review] Fransiscan Well Rebel Red.

[Greg2013]

Dropped into Merrys in Dungarvan Co.Waterford earlier today. They had this on tap and as i was only staying for the one i decided to sample it. Please bear in mind this is from a complete novice point of view, these are only my opinions on this beer.

First off colour wise i found this more of an amber colour with a dash of red thrown in. Carbonation wise it had very low carbonation, on a scale of 1-5 i would say a 1.50 on the carbonation. That being said IMHO this is exactly correct for this beer, any more and it would lose a lot of its character.The head was thin but uniform(about half finger), very creamy slightly cappuchino colour.

On the nose from the glass i got definite floral notes,very prominent,very slight bitterness on the nose,however although i did pick up a sweetness i can't say that i detected any of the caramel notes from the glass.

Once i took a drink however bang got a big whack of the dark fruits,straight away i thought Plums followed by Nectarines and on the tail end i picked up definite caramel notes.I picked up very slight Malt notes on the back end of the swallow, however i did not detect any of the biscuit.Bitterness was very subtle which suited me perfectly.

Body wise it was quite thin but again i believe that this suited the beer along with the low carbonation.Made for a very sessionable beer that goes down smooth and won't make you suffer later on.Lacing was excellent and although i thought it had a thin head it maintained it consistently throughout which to me is more important.

All in all a very well rounded brew i though and certainly one i would actively look for again, good start off beer for those like me just breaking into craft beers and hops etc.

The ingredients can be seen in the last picture and this was 5.05 euro a pint .

Well done to Fransiscan Well Brewery on this fine beverage.

[Bubbles]

Nice review deadman.

Does anyone else think this beer has changed somewhat recently? It seems to me to be a little lighter bodied than usual. Anyone know when the production was transferred over to Molsons?

[Greg2013]

Nice review deadman.

Does anyone else think this beer has changed somewhat recently? It seems to me to be a little lighter bodied than usual. Anyone know when the production was transferred over to Molsons?

WTF Molson's??? You are joking

[Bubbles]

Pretty sure I heard that production was being transferred to Molsons in UK while their Cork brewery was being refurbished. Anyone know??

[Taf]

Still being brewed in Cork, as far as I am aware, as I'd swear they were brewing it, when I was in there recently, but I could be wrong. I wouldn't really say that the existing brewery is being refurbished at the moment, allthough they did get some new tanks added. I think it's more that they are waiting to build the new brewery down the docks.

Can't really comment on whether the red has changed recently, as haven't drunk it in a while.

Edit : Tube beat me to it. Some of the lads went to look at the space for the new brewery over the weekend, so building still hasn't started yet. Supposed to be a nice big space though.

[Bubbles]

Thanks for clarifying lads. Sorry deadman, I think I nearly gave you a heart attack there!

[Greg2013]

Thanks for clarifying lads. Sorry deadman, I think I nearly gave you a heart attack there!

feckin right you did I was thinking MC had nabbed another craft brewer

[Taf]

Sorry to break it to you, but MC do own the F Well brewery. We were only discussing where the red is currently brewed.

[Garry]

Here's some reading for you deadman.

As far as I know the brewery in the 'Well will be kept and what is brewed there will be sold there. What's brewed in the new brewery will be bottled and kegged.

The new brewery hasn't started yet but will soon. Peter took us for a look at the new building on Saturday, it's massive!

I wouldn't worry about MC being the owners. Peter is very excited about the new opportunity's it offers them and they are adamant that the beer stays craft.

[Greg2013]

Cheers Garry. Only thing i would say about that is that i see they visited Sharps in Cornwall? I did a review on Doombar recently and through talking to people in UK and even Canada that used to drink Dommbar on a regular basis to a man they all said it had turned to horse piss since MC took over Might be just a coincedence 

[Bubbles]

Thanks for clarifying lads. Sorry deadman, I think I nearly gave you a heart attack there!

feckin right you did I was thinking MC had nabbed another craft brewer

As Taf said, they bought out the FW quite a while ago. A good thing though surely? With Molson-Coors' huge influence, an opportunity for some excellent beers like Friar Weiss or Rebel Red to sit alongside the Coors Lite tap. Happy days.

[irish_goat]

As Taf said, they bought out the FW quite a while ago. A good thing though surely? With Molson-Coors' huge influence, an opportunity for some excellent beers like Friar Weiss or Rebel Red to sit alongside the Coors Lite tap. Happy days.

I see it as a terrible thing. Posted my reasons on boards.

The Fran Well brewery are going to be brewing some Blue Moon as well and this leads onto where I see the big problem developing. Bar managers will be approached by Molson and be offered 'the Molson package'; a stout, red ale, crappy Canadian lager to keep non-crafty drinkers happy and a "weird" american beer". They'll then be able to offer ridiculous price breaks and free kegs if a pub gets the full portfolio in. Why then would the bar owner to go out of their way and get in a less profitable microbrew as the lazier ones will be able to say "we already have some beer in for those craft drinkers"? And then Molson will no doubt be offering kick backs to pubs who get rid of microbrews in favour of their own. It's what they did to get Coors Light draught into pubs anyway.

One of the best things about craft is the variety. There's a press release somewhere talking about how much of the market is going to be craft beer in the next 10 years and the spokeperson from Molson said they want to capture something like 35% of that market. Having 35% of all craft beer in Ireland being a choice between Fran Well and Blue Moon does not sound good at all.
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[irish_goat]

I think there's a lot of speculation there.

There will always be a market for lite crappy lagers, and that is something that craft beer cannot dislodge. Coors Lite or Metalman for some people equals a Vodka & Coke.

Where do you see too much speculation?

When Heineken started pushing Coors Light they offered buy 3 for 4 on the piss if my local got rid of Bud. What's to stop Molson doing it to micro brews?

[Garry]

I think Joe Soap who drinks the macro beers will want the beer that's advertised on the football player's shirt. They'll go into a pub, pick the beer from the most recognisable brand and drink that all night. NO mixing! That would blow the head off ya!

The craft beer geek will want variety. He could order a different drink every time he goes to the bar. If MC try to shove out other craft beers from a pub they will be shooting themselves in the foot. These guys are no fools. If they want a piece of the craft beer market they will have to play alongside everyone else for it to work. They know that.

[irish_goat]

I think Joe Soap who drinks the macro beers will want the beer that's advertised on the football player's shirt. They'll go into a pub, pick the beer from the most recognisable brand and drink that all night. NO mixing! That would blow the head off ya!

The craft beer geek will want variety. He could order a different drink every time he goes to the bar. If MC try to shove out other craft beers from a pub they will be shooting themselves in the foot. These guys are no fools. If they want a piece of the craft beer market they will have to play alongside everyone else for it to work. They know that.

That's an easy way to look at it but it's not like that at all. There are plenty of craft drinkers out there who aren't geeks like us and won't be as fussy about what they're drinking as long as it's better than the macro stuff. Plus if there's nothing available but macro or Fran Well a lot of us would drink the Fran Well stuff. Molson have crunched the numbers, they know what they're doing here.

I didn't say too much, but I think it's a lot. Coors aren't Heineken and may chose to play things differently. For a starters there is still a lot of the macro piss market to be won over.

They'll try and win both over at the same time.