Curly Tale Ale

I don't like baseball much, but when I heard of Flat Earth's newest offering, the 15th anniversary special ale for the Saint Paul Saints, I was willing to shell out the $4 for a game, grab a hot dog or two, a beer or five, and watch the game. For $4, they give you a nice-sized half-liter of this coppery, amber colored beer. It's hard to judge the appearance in a plastic cup, but I thought it looked quite delicious, and the server did a decent job of pouring, leaving a finger of white, foamy head.

Typical for the style of English Bitter, the Curly Tale settles on a mild 3.2% abv. And, also a staple of the style, what it lacks in alcohol, it makes up for in taste. Coppery and malty up front, with a smooth, clean mild to medium bitterness in the back. Tastes fantastic and quite drinkable.

Now, since the Saints games are the only place to get this, I can only really recommend this drink if you love beer as much as I do, or, I guess, enjoy baseball more than I do. It won't reinvent how you taste beer, or change your life, but you won't find a better beer at the stadium.

Someone needs to hook up Flat Earth Brewery with a bottling gig, fast. While I felt the Element 115 was drinkable, it lacked any lasting flavor worth coming back for. But between the Pale Ale and this newest offering, Jeff Williamson has managed to make beers that I want to drink over and over. Worthy of a six-pack, I think.