Kotas Reviews Fat Bottom Brewing's Ruby

As I linger in the beer aisle, wistfully wishing to fill my cart with delicious foamy goodness, I often see if any of my locally brewed stuff is available. I actually really like the local brewing trend that has swept the nation, and I enjoy supporting local businesses. Of course, my definition of "local" is "In My State", but there are more options every day. So as I scanned the shelves, I saw something right out of the town of Nashville, Tennessee, proving once and for all that something else comes out of that city besides gin and country music. Today we review Fat Bottom Brewing's Ruby.

Actual Slogans: "Grab one!" and "Rounder, Fuller Flavor!"

With a name like Fat Bottom Brewing, you know the puns are gonna be fast and furious. Oh how painfully true this is. Most of their offerings have names like "Black Betty", "Bertha", "Ginger" and the like. Others have horrible puns like "Knockout" on them. As you can see from their website, they also have a tap room and beer garden in downtown Nashville. Hoo boy does this branding run off into the distance, presumably checking its Fitbit the whole way while making sure the trilby it is wearing stays at just the right angle.

Heh heh. Bottom.

I do like the pin up style artwork that adorns the packaging, especially because it was designed for my particular aesthetic tastes in...artwork. But (ha!) there is nothing subtle or reserved about this brand at all. The language is also less than progressive, and that does not please me. Then again I don't suppose beer advertising and labeling is known for its incredibly tasteful and classy marketing, is it? How does it look in the glass?

Foamy. Very foamy. 

It's a very pretty red ale, though the head on it was larger than I expected. Just foaming everywhere, it was. Once that calmed down, I was able to appreciate the aroma of a good solid red ale. Another local brewer makes a most excellent red ale with a very unfortunate name, so I expected something along those lines. What a surprise I was in for. Ruby here is much hoppier than I was expecting. The very strong bitterness clashes with my personal expectations about what a red ale is supposed to taste like. I wanted a nice clean malty beverage and what I got was a hoppy, bitter experience that does not sell me on the concept of the "red ale". I suppose it is much closer to the British Bitters than to an Irish Red, but I guess reds have one thing in common: You are going to get more than you bargained for.

On the FACE Rating System, this gets one frowny face. I did finish the package, but I will not be buying this again, and I was disappointed in my purchase. My IPA loving friends may adore this though, since it would be a good session bitter for people who want that IPA feel without wanting to overdose on the hops. All that being said, I would give their beers another try, though in a different flavor. It seems very well crafted for what it is, it is just not what I was expecting. The artwork is up my alley, and I would totally decorate my theoretical bar with the pin up pictures. Just not the slogans surrounding it.