Smithwick's: Irrefutable proof that a merciful God exists.

Smithwick's may be the best beer in the universe.

Devin and I love to debate frequently, some say incessantly, about almost every topic imaginable. One of our more frequent, not to mention favorite, points of discussion is beer. What brew is best? Why do we like it? The list is endless. One of our favorite beers here at the Bloomington Beer Blog, and Devin's all time favorite, is Smithwick's. An Irish Red that, for all accounts and purposes, may actually be perfect.

Devin said he tried his first Smithwick's at the tender age of fifteen, and it set his standard for beer from that point onwards. Other than the glaring problem that legally he could only have sampled Smithwick's in the African country of Comoros at that time, there is a lot of truth to that statement. It is one of the most balanced and well crafted beers on the market today.

One of the bywords of the Irish Red Ale style is balance. An even balance of hops to malt, a creamy head to smooth out the flavor, and subtle blend of specialty grains, is the norm for a Red. Smithwick's, however, takes it to the next level.

If Irish Reds are smooth, than Smithwick's is the Casanova of the bunch. With a slightly larger malt body than most Reds, and a hearty infusion of nitrogen carbonation for smoothness, Smithwick's almost melts in your mouth. Served at the proper temperature, it induces religious experiences. It cleanses the pallet and renews the soul. Its just that good.

One note of precaution with this glorious beer: Its best from the tap, but more consistent from the bottle. In fact, we believe that if Smithwick's tasted more consistent on tap from bar to bar, it would be far more popular than it is already. The delicate balance of flavors are easily spoiled by uncleaned keg tubing, or other faulty bar maintenance; its the beer equivalent of a canary in a coalmine. Since it can't hide any incompetence, its one of the best ways to judge the quality of a bar, and you'll be amazed how many bars come up short.

In our latest scientific study, what we like to call our bar crawls, we found that only one of our local bars served a respectable pint of our favorite Red, The Irish Lion. That's pretty impressive since Bloomington is a college town where drinking borders on being the state-sponsored religion. We must drink so much that taking any time out to clean the keg system would be bad for business. Regardless of the reason, the difference is staggering and must be tasted to be believed. Don't take our word for it, go out to your favorite bars and taste for yourselves. We'd like nothing more than to be proven wrong. After all, one more bar that serves a refreshing pint of Smithwick's from the tap is a step towards a better world for all of us.

Until next time,

-The Bloomington Beer Blog.