Wexford Irish Cream Ale

*NOTE* This post was intended for St. Patrick's Day 2008, but job stuff got hectic and prevented me from posting it. Here it is in its entirety. I kept the post date the same, as it was started on that day.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Be sure to have one on your friend The Beerocrat tonight...and drive safe.

My St. Paddy's Day beer of choice is my attempt at getting an Irish (or at least Irish-style) beer that wasn't a member of the Guinness family. My choice: Wexford Irish Cream Ale, which takes its name from Ireland's County Wexford. According to the can (yes, this beer is canned, which is not uncommon amongst imported beers and even U.S. craft breweries), Wexford Irish Cream Ale's recipe is based on a similar one brewed in the eponymous county back in 1810. Thames America, one of the American importers, says that the recipe was then used by five generations of the family-owned Wexford Ale Company. It is now brewed by Greene King Brewing Co. in Suffolk, England. Hey, at least it has Irish roots. (Thames America's Wexford site)


Here come the limited stats:

Wexford Irish Cream Ale
BREWERY: Greene King Brewing Co., Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England
STYLE: Irish Cream Ale
FIRST BREWED: 1810, according to the can
CALORIES/SERVING:
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 5%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS:

I got the brewery, first brewed info, and ABV from the can, which can also be found on importer Thames America's Wexford site. Through that site, I sent an e-mail to get the rest of the missing pieces.

Like a lot of well-known beers imported from the British Isles, Wexford has a widget full of nitrogen placed inside during the canning process, which gives it a burst of creaminess to the flavor and allows you to bring the pub experience home with you. Wexford's widget looks like this, which is similar to Guinness' can widget in size and shape:


Apparently, its the first widgeted Irish Cream beer sold in the US. (Thames America's Wexford site)

The beer itself was a translucent amber color. The tan head exploded in the bottom of the glass, even when I poured it slowly (probably on account of the nitrogen). It flowed downward, much like a Guinness does. Its nose had a bit of grainy-hoppiness to it. The taste was creamy and grainy, almost velvety; it was very rich for an amber ale. The finish was nice and faint with no hoppy aftertaste.

Overall, this is a well-done beer. Considering that it was the closes thing to an Irish beer that I could find (no Beamish), I may just have this every March 17th.

Sláinte!