Conway's Irish Ale

Picked this six pack up from Plainfield's Binny's over spring break. Drank 4 and gave one away and now I'm finally getting around to rating the last one. Tasted following my first day Interning at Great River Brewery.

Appearance: Rubied amber with some copper to touch. The head is stable and for the most part off white and intermittently foamy. Maximal clarity runs throughout this well filtered ale with a strong visible presence of micro-carbonation bubbles quickly rising to the surface.

Aroma: Dry and fruity with a tropical hop element and a strong carameled backbone. The fruit reminds me of pears with an apricot/plum sweetness. Some nuttiness permeates with a bit of honey to contribute.
Taste: Starts sweet and nicely malted with the ever present dash of fruit, perhaps from Vienna malt I'd presume. Some toasted barley rounds in the sweet malt backbone and the end into the midtaste revolves around the caramel/honey and fruit sweetness. A roasted malt sensation appears if you can concentrate over the maltiness. Finally there finishes a mild hop profile that leaves the mouth clean with the ever subtle tannic nuttiness in the aftertaste. There may also bee some toffee'd character as well. The hops aren't really there to bring in too many additional flavors than to just encourage the already present malt taste.
Mouthfeel: Thicker body with a light carbonation that makes the beer seem almost syrupy. The bubbles hit a second or two after with a spike to the mid tongue and back of the throat. There beer is a little cloying and tacky to the lips.
Overall Impression: I did like this beer in the beginning, but gradually after the several I've had and some thought about it, I think the sweetness is overdone and may even wear on you. The complexity is well established but more so in the form of malt and fruit flavors. Pretty off balanced by way of lack of hop profile.
Perhaps for those with the sweeter tooth.


81/100