New Beer Friday! – Shiner Ruby Redbird

Today begins the first day of my vacation and I intend to sample a lot of brews during my time off. Summer beers tend to get overshadowed because of my preference for Fall and Winter seasonals so I plan on doing them a little bit of justice this week. I’m going to start with Shiner’s Ruby Redbird.

Like most summer brews made with citrus, I was expecting something sweeter. This is not a bad thing and it’s definitely not some kind of a citrus-ade masquerading as a beer like you’d get if you were drinking a shandy.

Ruby Redbird pours a solid orange amber color; what little head there was dissipated very quickly and there was no lacing at all. You can smell a feint hint of ginger as soon as you put your nose to the glass.

Although it’s not a very fruity beer, this is a very crisp brew. You get a solid blast of grapefruit peel right off the bat. That carries directly into the strong ginger note on the back end and both flavors blend together really well.

For a summer offering this a little weightier than typical summer beers which I really dig. This would probably pair well with some grilled margarita shrimp kabobs or any kind of lime infused chicken. Perfect brew for chilling out somewhere outdoors and kicking back with some reggae, Jack Johnson or Jimmy Buffett music.

Tampa Food Dude The food abides…