Blue Moon Short Straw Farmhouse Red Ale

Farmhouse Ales were brewed for the diligent farmhands who drew the short straw and had to work the arduous harvest. Our brewmaster’s expression blends the spiciness of a Farmhouse Ale with the tartness of a Flanders Red for a remarkably refreshing finish.

Malts: Caramel Malt Pale Malt, European Abbey Malt, European Acidulated Malt, Chocolate Malt, Malted White Wheat
Hops: Spalt Select, Czech Saaz
Our Twist: White Pepper, Coriander, Hibiscus

Formerly know as "Farmhouse Red Ale"

2.7

340 reviews

Denver, United States

Community reviews

2.4 Pours a half finger of head on a clear red body. The aroma is dry grain and an odd strawberry smell. The taste has a mildly tart start then into a mild sweet finish. The texture is light with too much fizz. It has a weird flavor profile and too carbonated.

2.3 Fruit, funk and Coors. The aroma had a strange hint of a macro brew. The color was a pretty golden red. Palate was sharp with not a favorable finish. Flavors were interesting with a hint of spice but too subdued. Below average.

2.8 Pours a clear coppery color with off-white head. Caramel malt and some spice on the nose; follows onto the palate. Finishes bland.

3.7 Poured a very pretty garnet colour with a slight, whispy head. Slight tartness in the mouth. Not much hints of any saison.

2.9 Bottle. Pours an amber color with a fair head. Aroma of malt sweetness, grain, floral with bit of spice. Taste of malt sweetness, grain and spice. Mild bitterness and bit of tart in the finish. Moderate body, quite smooth with a bit of an earthy feel. Much better than I expected.

3.0 Poured from a 12 OZ bottle into a pint glass. Aroma- Has a blend of grass, fruit and coriander Appearance- Pours a murky reddish-brown, with a large white head. Taste- Has malt flavor with a tart finish, wheat and coriander is present in the flavor. Palate- A medium bodied beer with moderate carbonation Overall- An average Farmhouse style ale

3.3 August 9th, 2013 - Blue Moon’s Short Straw is the strawberry beer in the line of Blue Moon’s flavored dalliances. I have to admit, knowing the brand and the flavor at attempt made me a little less than excited to give this one a go, but it came out surprisingly well. It’s twangy at front, but then eases into a nice, acidic flavor with strawberries and berries floating atop regular witbier style palate. A surprising success!

3.0 12 ounce bottle. Pours a clear orange color with a small white head. A light toffee and dusty leaf nose. The flavor is light spices, pepper, some caramel, toffee. This tastes like an amber ale mostly. But I do get some spicy light sourness, metallic really. I don’t know, this isn’t terrible. It is laughable to call it a Flanders Red or whatever, but it is OK drinking. Some kind of odd malt liquor huskiness in the finish.

2.9 12oz bottle from Kroger in Grandview. Copper pour, off-white head. Aroma of sweet, spicy, caramel. Tastes are bready, floral, spice, earthy, sweet caramel malts. Not horrible, but nothing to write home about either.

2.7 Inoffensive and uninteresting. It's not a saison just a generic macro with a bit more grassy notes and malts.

3.0 Spring break bottle at Vinnie’s condo. Nice dark amber color with a tan head. Aroma is light sweet malt. Flavor is lightly sweet and light lemony tartness. Decent but not really a saison.

2.7 Bottle - Pours a clear amber with re highlight and creamy head. Aromas of straw and biscuit. Taste has some malt flavor with some sweetness. This neither a saison nor a Flanders Red. Drinkable.

2.4 Aroma caramel, bread, Appearance amber, clear, minimal head, Taste light sweetness, lightly bitter, Palate light body, thin feel, Overall I would suggest this to a friend that is not into craft beer

2.7 Bottle pour transparent copper/amber with quickly diminishing head. Nose caramel malt with a little rotten funk, but also some underlying chemical acidity. Taste better than it smells but not that much. Early malts lead to mid palate light bitterness. A hint of cardboard in the early finish.

2.0 Bottle: Clear copper color with about two fingers of creamy sand colored head. Lots of bubbles. Smells mostly of malts, tastes mostly of malts. A little bit of spice in the backend, but it’s sooooo muddled… no farmhouse, no red, no barnyard. There is an odd sweetness amongst the spice. Misses all the marks.

2.4 12oz bottle from Wegmans, Buffalo, NY. A clear reddish amber pour with a thin white head and light carbonation, so nothing farmhouse about the look of it; faintly floral aroma - so nothing farmhouse/farmyard about the smell; sweet hibiscus taste - so not really farmhouse either; with a kick of alcohol to finish - again not what I’d expect in a farmhouse brew - the idea being to drink copious amounts to quench one’s thirst after a hard day in the fields. This is more fitting for somebody who want’s to appear to be drinking craft beer, but doesn’t really like the stuff. I’n not a fan - I like my beer to taste like a beer.

2.8 The label calls this a blend of saison and Flanders red - tastes like neither, ot would I guess from the flavor that this was the intent - nose is very faint - some light hibiscus, mild bready malt sweetness, a faint huskiness - flavor is very bland - some toasty malt flavors and a moderate tartness throughout - the hibiscus presents a bit, and there is a light peppery character in the finish - the adjuncts try to compensate for the complete lack yeast character - boring.

2.7 I would not combine Flanders ale and saison in the same description. It tastes more like Flanders ale .. but just a touch. The rest is the same boring blue moon coors base.

2.8 Clear copper pour with an off white head. Not much lacing. Aroma is floral, coriander, and bread. Taste follows the nose but is a bit perfumy. Light tartness. Light body. Not awful.

2.3 Tasted on 1/6/15 from a capped 12oz bottle from a mixed pack, thanks to Kyle for giving me a bottle. Pours clear bright red with a thick off-white head that leaves a thick collar and thin lacing. The nose is caramel malt, a touch of some earthy spice, and some spicy, floral hibiscus. The flavor is the same with a touch of cereal, caramel malt, the same earthy yeast profile, and some dry, red floral and lightly spicy hibiscus. The body is medium with lively, very filling carbonation, and a medium cereal and lightly spicy floral finish.

2.2 Pale ruddy colour with a white head. The aroma is really fruity and and kind of tart. Has a little bit of juiciness and a vaguely wheaty spiciness. There is vaguely garbagey aroma though and it’s both too sweet and oddly tart at the same time. An uninteresting yeast choice doesn’t help either. Meh.

3.0 Pours a clear amber color with white head. Has a unique flavor that I don’t dislike, but not sure I like either

2.5 Pours dark golden, small head. Aroma of orange zest, malt. Taste of caramel, smoked malt.

0.7 Bottle: Thanks, Jeff. Not. Fuck you, asshole. Swampy translucent copper pour, gray tinted head fades quickly to a collar. Aroma of spaghetti sauce. Tomato, basil, oregano, green pepper. What the fuck. Was this aged in second use Prego barrels? Flavor is like.... Well. Imagine some twat didn’t completely finish their spaghetti marinara at the local Olive Garden. It gets tossed & scraped into the bin, then subsequently tossed into the dumpster later that night where it sits for a week until the garbage truck picks it up & moves it to the local dump. It sits there for weeks, maybe months. The trash is compacted & some of it is recycled, a portion of which is used for Kotex’s new brand of "green" & super-absorbent pads. Now imagine they get picked up by a women with a wide-set vagina & an unusually heavy flow. She tossed the old tampon into her garbage can where her dog fishes it out, takes it outside, & leaves it in the backyard. The wind blows it through the fence & out onto the sidewalk. You’re walking by. Pick it up & suck on it, long & hard. That’s how I would describe this nasty fucking bullshit. Gross.

2.0 Courtesy of northernbrews Bottle: The aroma consists of mild caramel, fruit, vegetal notes, and stale hops. It pours a transparent amber with a minimal off-white head that quickly fades to a very fine ring. The flavor starts with some strange lightly sour fruit and vegetal notes. The finish has basil and stale hops. It’s light bodied with light-moderate carbonation. Overall, it’s light enough that’s it’s not overly disgusting, but what’s there is not good...and not "Farmhouse" at all.

2.1 12 oz bottle pours reddish with a white head. Aroma of yeast, malts and fruit. Taste is fruit and some malts.

2.5 bottled - decent flavor - refreshing. Nice amber/red color. Aroma is blah, though. Overall, not that bad for Blue Moon.

2.6 This reddish amber ale has a hay like aroma. It poured with a thin amount of head and has a lightly sour aftertaste. It is fruity something like cherry.

2.2 Poured from a bottle. A lackluster beer with not much going on beside some maltiness and a little spice.

3.0 Bottle from Food Pantry Waikiki 191214. Say what you like about Blue Moon but they do make some good beers. While this beer doesn’t look all that impressive it tastes good with a slight tartness to it.