Newcastle Werewolf

As a general rule, I'm not a fan of gimmicky marketing when it comes to alcoholic drinks of any kind. Wines or beers with catchy names are almost never very impressive when it comes to the actual flavor. Newcastle Brown Ale, on the other hand (or “Nookie Broon” as it was first described to me) is a beer I've been drinking for a number of years, and I trust the Newcastle and Caledonian Breweries to deliver the goods. So it was with a mix of anxiety and anticipation that I picked up a six-pack of “Newcastle Werewolf,” one of their four new seasonal beers.

 

The label shows a picture of a legendary werewolf creature of the Newcastle moors, and the beer itself is supposed to be “blood red.” When you pour it out in a pint glass it is definitely a dark brown or copper color, and I've seen some reviews commenting on the lack of redness. I was a little disappointed in this myself- if I take a gamble on a gimmick, I expect the gimmick to at least pay off!- so I held the glass up to the light at various different angles while slowly rotating it.

I am pleased to be able to confirm that if you hold the glass at exactly the right angle in exactly the right light, it does indeed look blood red. So much for that. The much more important question is, how does it taste?

 

Despite my suspicious attitude to marketing gimmicks such as occasionally blood red, Halloweeny beers, I found it quite pleasant and drinkable. I'm not one of those connoisseurs who can go into rhapsodic detail over every little flavor nuance in a beer, but I would describe Newcastle Werewolf as a dark ale with some of the qualities of a porter, a lot of character, and a bit of a kick. I would drink it again.