Firemans 4 is actually not named after firemen at all. It's named after a bicycle company, which is actually less cool in my opinion. I'd stick with the myth if I had the choice. Anyway, I'm a latecomer as far as actually liking this beer. I do believe it is Real Ale's (from Blanco, TX) most popular beer and you can find it on tap and in bottles all over Austin. I'm more of an IPA and stout kind of guy so this beer, which is a blonde ale, at first seemed far too weak for my tastes. Interestingly, it took me drinking around four of these at a concert at the new Emo's East in Austin, as there was not way I was going to drink any Bud or Miller or Pabst, to think "You know, this actually isn't half bad." I had another at Old Settlers Music Festival recently as more research for this blog post. I spent $5 on a beer I don't love but hey, you got a blog out of it. Firemans 4 is not going to make my favorites list but considering I used to kind of hate it I feel like the virtues it does have are worth talking about. This is a light beer for sure but one that still has brightness and flavor. There is definitely a lot of grain qualities that show up in the taste. There's also a hint of citrus but in a way that's more like a hefeweizen (where fruit parts like orange peel are added) as opposed to the citrus-like character that shows up sometimes in hoppy beers like IPAs without anything "special" added. But Firemans 4 is not too fruity or too bubblegummy. It tastes like a beer and one that's good for warmer weather as it is less heavy than other styles. Since this is technically an ale I would enjoy it better if there were just a little bit more hops to it, which would give it more of an ale-ness. The one off-putting thing about this beer is that there's that slight sourness (best way I can think of to describe it) at the end of a sip as it's being swallowed that reminds me of cheap college beer. But ultimately, the flavor proves that Firemans 4 is much more than that. I do think it's a good thing that the majority of craft brewers in this country make all styles of beer. The chance to convert Miller or Budweiser loyalists to actually interesting beer is one that should be taken up. Firemans 4 could serve as a good gateway beer I think.
