As I stated in my last review of a beer, I usually tend to purchase beers by their pricing, as in lower is usually what I'm looking for. However, sometimes a beer just catches my eye and I have to try it. I admit that before buying Crimson Voodoo, I knew nothing of the brewer and had relatively little knowledge of the beer itself. I had one friend back home who had tried it, but his review was less than stellar. I believe his comment when I asked him about it was, "Eh.." So, with that in mind, I passed on this beer the first time I saw it in the store based on his review and the fact that this beer is almost $9 a six pack. However, the next time, it was on sale and I just had to try this unique beer with such an amazingly wicked sounding name.
The first thing that attracted me to this beer in the store was it's packaging. I admit that a beer's container has nothing to do with it's taste, but it sure can have a lot to do with whether or not the beer sells. And on this alone Crimson Voodoo does a wonderful job. Just the name alone evokes up images of dark back alleys in New Orleans, witch doctors, Haiti, and of course, Marie Laveau the Queen of Voodoo. OK, these images probably aren't a big selling point for many people, but voodoo has always been somewhat of an interest of mine, and this beer had me from the get-go. The name is certainly interesting, but the bottle takes the cake. A black bottle, with an oozing red label that just screams blood. Look a little deeper and you see the haunting image of oak trees with Spanish Moss clinging to it. And of course, the bottle wouldn't be complete without graves to remind the drinker of the creepy mausoleums littered throughout New Orleans. The bottle alone had me scared even before I had a sip of the beer. So, without further ado, on to the taste!
I guess I am in the minority when I say that I was very impressed with the way this beer tasted. I, was of course, a little biased going into the testing because I was, as you can already see, fascinated with the bottle. And from looking at other opinions on here, this beer hasn't been getting stellar reviews. Even my friends who I let have a taste of this expensive treat weren't too impressed with it. I, however, thought this beer was wonderful. Usually I am a fan of the darker, thicker beers, but this one hit the spot just right. It was rather thin, but not watery like most domestic beers. If I wanted a beer that thin, I could save my money and buy Natural Light.
Crimson Voodoo was also slightly sweet, which is another thing that I usually don't look for in a beer. I tend to like bitter beers, but this one was just right. Slightly sweet, and slightly bitter make for a wonderful combination. Oftentimes, beers can be either too sweet, such as many of the cherry flavored beers, or too bitter, as is seen in Guinness which can often taste like a bottle of pesticide. This beer, however, was a great combination of both and made for a very smooth drink. And back to the looks again, this beer is actually red when poured into a glass, unlike Killian's which looks brownish-orange. You might not think the color would make a lot of difference, but it can only add to the mystique surrounding this beer.
One of the main reasons that I would buy this beer again is the fact that it seemed to sit very well on my stomach. It seems as if I usually tend to get either one extreme or the other when it comes to beers. Sometimes I want to sip beer, but more often than not, I am going to have more than a few beers in any given sitting. With the thicker beers, I seem to feel full after only a couple of beers, which makes it difficult to drink more than a few. And then with the lighter, watery beers, I tend to get sick feeling after more than a few simply because of the less-than-superior taste. However, with enough money, Crimson Voodoo is a beer that I could drink all day. Not too heavy or light, this beer is very easy on the stomach and would be a superb selection for those who aren't heavy beer drinkers. And, as mentioned, it would also be perfect for those looking to drink more than a couple of beers.
This beer is wonderful for those nights sitting around the house, possibly with a scary movie in the VCR. I can't imagine drinking it out on the lake, simply because of it's aura, but it probably wouldn't evoke the same feelings for a good many drinkers. This beer is quite tasty, and makes for a very smooth drink. However, as mentioned earlier, this beer's main charm lies within its labelling. This New Orleans based brewery has done a wonderful job of capitalizing on the voodoo mystique surrounding the city. You wouldn't think a label could affect the taste of a beer, but when you go into the tasting with such interesting notions already floating around your head, it cannot help but influence the way you feel about the beer. Great image, marketing, and taste make Crimson Voodoo a steal even at it's somewhat suspect price.
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