Brewery: Real Ale Brewing Company
Beer: Three Lions
Style: American Double/Imperial IPA
ABV: 8%
Character: Brewed with two large dry hop additions of Simcoe, Amarillo, and Lemondrop hops
Ratings at time of Review: BA: 86 | RB: 94
Metal Connection: MORBID ANGEL – Lion’s Den
BeerMetalDude Rating: 4.5/5
I might not have reviewed a lot of their beers up to this point, but I will say that Real Ale Brewing Company out of Blanco, TX is one of my favorite breweries around. For 20 years they have been pumping out some seriously great beers. What I love about them is that they are so fuckin’ Metal, but you just can’t tell by looking at their simple beer labels or names (except their Mysterium Verum series). They are also proud to be from Texas, and they still only else, and they have had a huge successful career so far.
Three Lions was originally one of their Brewer’s Cut releases that has been moved to a year round release. I do believe this one was originally under the name, Brewer’s Cut No. 010 Double IPA, which was released back in early 2014. From the looks of my Untappd, I never did have that beer during the time it was out. Bummer! Towards the end of 2015, Real Ale released Three Lions as part of their Bomber Series. I have had this beer several times since it’s release in bottle and on draft around town. It’s a wonderful beer. I am happy to have Real Ale on the site again. Cheers my friends. Enjoy the review.
Recently Real Ale did a whole new re-branding of their products. All of their labels now share the same template, but with every beer, the base color is different. For Three Lions the label base is a dark yellow with the beer name written in a maroon color. Each new label also features a small clip art type logo, and of course, this one has a lion head for the art piece. It is a very simple label, and I am sure if this beer was released while they were doing more full art pieces for their labels, this one would have been really cool. Of course, you know I would have preferred a colorful art piece, but these colors on this label really works for the beer style and name.
Using a Ranger Creek Red Headed Stranger glass designed for IPA’s by Arcoroc, Three Lions poured a semi-hazy bright copper color topped with a large 1 inch wide foamy whit head. Excellent head retention, leaving lines of lacing down the glass.
The nose was all hops with tons of tropical and citrus fruits, mango, papaya, pineapple, grapefruit, orange, and lemon. Mild resin, fresh baked biscuits, and pale malts round out the aroma. There is a lingering fruit blend and a smell similar to onion, which was left a spicy tingle in the nose.
The taste was similar to the aroma with all fruit flavors up front, grapefruit, orange, mango, papaya, pineapple, and lemon. Hints of Grapefruit and orange skin as well, along with oily resin finished off the hop profile. Biscuits, and pale malts made up the backbone. There was acidic citrus fruit skin and mild onion flavors in the aftertaste.
The body was a medium thickness. The mouthfeel was oily, yet astringent and was moderately carbonated. Three Lions finished dry, which was a perfect compliment to the aftertaste flavors.
Overall, I will say that this beer was highly satisfying on my palate. The use of Simcoe, Amarillo, and Lemondrop hops were a perfect combination, and balanced well with the beer’s malty backbone. I can barely find any wrong doing with anything Real Ale releases, though. As I said before, these guys are my favorite Texas brewery. It will take powers from beyond to ever change my mind on this. I am happy that this beer is year round, as I will be having several bottles and pints at the local Craft Beer bars.
Metal Connection: One song immediately came to mind when drinking this amazing beer. I am talking about the song “Lion’s Den” by the infamous Florida based Satanic Death Metal pioneers, Morbid Angel. These guys have been pummeling the music scene since the early 80’s, and up to this point have released several demos, live albums, compilations, boxed sets, EPs and eight full length studio albums. Each album they release, they go in alphabetical order, starting with 1989’s Altars of Madness. A true classic of an album! In 1993, Morbid Angel was the first ever Death Metal band to be signed to a major record label after signing to Giant Records, in association with Warner Bros. Records. This was the band’s 3rd full length album, Covenant, which is the album our featured song comes from. This album really did both good and bad for the Death Metal underground scene. As Morbid Angel gained fame throughout the world, the band’s elite group of early fans, seemed to had turn their backs on them, calling them sellouts and such. For me, it is what it is, and Covenant was an outstanding album full of great tunes. “Lion’s Den” is one of my favorite tracks from this album. At around the 30 second mark, the riff played is such a memorable one. It will get stuck in your head, and you will find yourself humming the tune. This song also has another great moment at around the 1:25 mark, which is just fast double bass by Pete Sondoval, and vocals by David Vincent for a few seconds before diving right into another headbanging riff. Please crank this mother fucker up to 11, and enjoy a good Double IPA like Three Lions! Cheers & Hails!
Beer Metal Media 