Reindeer Games
Clown Shoes

Reindeer GamesReindeer Games
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From:
Clown Shoes
 
Massachusetts, United States
Style:
American IPA
Ranked #2,297
ABV:
7%
Score:
87
Ranked #17,804
Avg:
3.85 | pDev: 8.83%
Reviews:
78
Ratings:
307
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 28, 2024
Added:
Sep 18, 2014
Wants:
  7
Gots:
  48
Beautiful, malt-forward and red-hued IPA that is crafted with both German and American hops and malts. Let the games begin!
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Stagga_Lee:
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Rated by Stagga_Lee from Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +16.9%

Dec 14, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.31 by taigor from New York

Jan 28, 2024
Photo of Mitchster
Reviewed by Mitchster from Michigan

4.36/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Part of the mixed 12 pack from last winter, however this has been in cold storage since it was purchased.
Hopped with Saaz. Mandarina, and Mosaic and brewed with a portion of "Bavarian Red X" malt. No other specs/ingredients per website or 12oz can. Best by 1/3/23 on bottom of can.

7.0% ABV

Pours out to a lightly hazy deep red, much darker than what I was expecting given "bavarian IPA", which I thought would be pils malt. Given the color, I was worried that some significant degradation had happened during cold storage but my fears were alleviated when I saw it was brewed with Red X malt, so really this is a red IPA for all practical purposes. Forms a nice sized yellow head with excellent retention and nice solid sheets of lacing. Carbonation is moderate, 2.5 carbs. Nose is still quite fresh with piney hops and some subtle crystal malt, no off flavors or aromas. Mouthfeel is smooth, medium bodied, finishing lightly dry with mild-moderate bitterness. The taste is also quite fresh...smooth malt body with a little crystal and piney hops. No tropical fruit, slightly spicy, a little toasted multigrain bread and some subtle bitter plum peel. Bitterness is a bit low, a little earthy, compared to most IPAs but I prefer this and makes it quite easy to drink and smooth.

On further googling, "BEST Red X® has become synonymous with beers with a reddish color. It can be used 100% of the grain bill and is thus ready for use without the addition of further malts. BEST Red X® ensures, with the highest possible process reliability and optimum processability, that reproducibly bright beers with intense red colors can be brewed. The malt was designed for a P12 beer. For stronger beers, due to the higher original wort content, some BEST Pilsener malt should be added proportionally to the bulk to get back into the red range." EBC=28-32 (? as a brewer, I am used to SRM).

Overall, I thought this was a nice red IPA and I'm glad it hasn't suffered much with cold storage. I would buy this again as it has a nice malty complexity and drinkability that I get from a good red IPA. Recommended.
Jan 03, 2024
Photo of NeroFiddled
Reviewed by NeroFiddled from Pennsylvania

3.95/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Clown Shoes Beer "Reindeer Games"
12 fl. oz. can coded "Best By 01/31/24" and sampled on 12/30/23
$21.99 / 12 Beers Of Christmas variety case @ COSTCO, Christiana, DE

Notes via stream of consciousness: This is labeled as a Bavarian IPA, but what is a Bavarian IPA? I've been to Bavaria (I visit every few years) and I've sampled many IPAs, all of which were versions of American IPAs, so what is this? The label notes that it's brewed with German and American hops and malts including "Bavarian Red X". Well I'm not sure but I think they're referring to Bestmalz "Red X"®, and while Bestmalz has a malthouse in Kreimbach, which is in Bavaria, their headquarters in Heidelberg, and their other malthouse in Wallertheim are not. "Close but no cigar" is what I'd say on that one. It's poured a clear medium brown colored body beneath a short head of yellowed off-white foam. The aroma is sweetish, malty, caramelish, toasty, fruity, lightly piney, and gently spicy (allspice?). It's quite interesting! The taste follows and although I'm not finding any clear banana I'm wondering if they've perhaps used a Bavarian hefeweizen yeast at cooler temperatures? I'm getting some spiciness, and I think some clove-like character which would be in -line with that, and would explain why it's called a Bavarian style IPA. Otherwise I'm finding notes of toasty bread, golden caramel, reddish caramel, darker almost burnt sugar, apple, plum, sweet red berries, dried citrus, pine, herbs, earth, flowers, and dried leaves. It's not a bold taste but it's really quite complex. I'm sure if I kept looking I could find even more. It starts sweetish but it finishes dry, spicy, earthy, leafy, and piney with just a swirl of citrus lingering. In the mouth it's medium bodied on the lighter side and gently crisp and then smooth. It's really quite unique, and surprisingly well balanced and rounded.
Review #8,899
Dec 30, 2023
Photo of maddogruss
Reviewed by maddogruss from New Jersey

3.98/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
A: pours a deep amber body with an off-white head with decent retention and lacing.
S: sweet, toasted toffee notes with hints of dank earthiness.
T: roasted toffee and raisin notes with a subtle, earthy, dry finish.
M: full bodied and smooth
O: nice drinking beer. Pretty well rounded IPA.
Dec 28, 2023
Photo of LesDewitt4beer
Reviewed by LesDewitt4beer from Minnesota

3.91/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
12 oz can best before 1/31/24 into a Becher glass.
L: SRM 9 Pours 98% clear dark caramel color with a thin light khaki semi-creamy head, good retention and recedes to a thick uneven skin, steady fine carbonation, medium-thick complex lacing.
S: Caramelized malts, a hint of fruits, light citrus.
T: Gently sweet caramel malts, herbal and almost rye-like hop notes, light plum, confectionery sugar, some resin, brown bread, orange/small orange citrus, distant berries. It is lightly bitter towards the end then the finish has a fairly long bitter linger.
F: Lightly crisp & brisk medium to medium-light bodied feel with a medium-long smooth and drying finish.
O: Very nice caramelized malt tastes, slightly herbal hops, gently sweet and very easy drinking. It is very good in its style.
Dec 21, 2023
Photo of ramseye4
Reviewed by ramseye4 from Virginia

3.54/5  rDev -8.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A- pours a fantastic dark brown color with great head.

S- muted. A bit of pine but mostly dark malt

T- almost has rye spiciness, bready malt. Faint hop bitterness

M- so so

Overall- meh. Different than a typical ipa but unremarkable
Dec 17, 2023
Photo of buschbeer
Reviewed by buschbeer from Ohio

3.58/5  rDev -7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
12 FL. OZ. can
Served in a snifter

This beer pours a brilliant rust color with copper highlights. It is topped with an inch of tan head that leaves spotty lacing.

Toffee and toast aroma. Hints of pine and citrus

Sweet and malty upfront. Mild citrus in the finish.

Medium bodied with a smooth mouthfeel

Malty IPA as described. It is okay, not a favorite.
Dec 05, 2023
 
Rated: 3.77 by tdm168 from Pennsylvania

Dec 02, 2023
 
Rated: 3.75 by smb71481 from Vermont

Nov 18, 2023
 
Rated: 3.81 by lic217 from Connecticut

Nov 04, 2023
 
Rated: 3.94 by mrovelli from Massachusetts

Jan 20, 2023
 
Photo of Papercut4
Reviewed by Papercut4 from Wisconsin

3.95/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Got this one in the Christmas variety pack. A deep copper color with some good malt flavors. Not very bitter at all, very enjoyable in my Christmas tour of beers!
Dec 26, 2022
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Reviewed by CHickman from New York

3.75/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
It’s nice to see a copper colored IPA once in a while, so this was a holiday treat. The aroma is muted and very basic for an IPA, but I like the malty, caramel flavors that start this brew off and then allow the citrus and floral hoppy aspects balance things out. Not overly sweet with a mild bitterness and lots of malty flavor.
Dec 15, 2022
Photo of papposilenus
Reviewed by papposilenus from New Hampshire

3.6/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
From a 12oz can, best by 01/31/23. From the 12 Beers of Christmas holiday variety pack. Note: this is packaged as a Bavarian IPA. Served in a willi becher.

Pours a lightly hazed, dull copper colour, the colour of an old penny, with a finger-plus of soft beige foam. Retention is on the order of a minute or two, leaving a creamy cap and a solid blanket of sudsy lacing.

Nose is malty with a pronounced taffy or candy-like character.

Taste does a total 180 to the nose being harsh with a big, bitter, cigar-wrapper flavour and grassy astringency. After the initial onslaught, tasting toast, caramel and lemon, tea, cedar and peppermint.

Feel is clean and quenching, medium bodied with bright-verging-on-overly-strong carbonation.

A big, bold beverage. I was initially put off by the way the flavour veered away so aggressively from the aroma but ultimately settled back and just let it have its way with me. Still, I’d be unlikely to seek it out on its own.
Nov 30, 2022
Photo of teromous
Reviewed by teromous from Virginia

2.37/5  rDev -38.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
This is from the "12 Beers of Christmas" pack.
From the bottom of the can: "Best By 01/31/23 252 17:53"

Appearance: The body is a darker shade of brown with a touch of dark amber as the light comes through. The beer has good clarity that is apparent even though the beer is on the darker side. The head is cream-white and creamy in texture, medium-short and with pretty good retention. It has some good lacing. It is much darker than the average IPA but it still looks nice in a glass.

Aroma: There barely is any aroma, but what does come through is bandaid. There is a very, very light hint of mint, but drawing in enough air into the nose to pick up the mint just amplifies the bandaid character.

Taste: Up front there is a light bit of tea leaf flavor. Towards the middle there is a bit more tea leaf with a bit of cedar and a hint of moss. There is a bit of bitter mint at the back of the mouth but it pops in and is lost behind more mossy notes. A light bit of coffee and at times some burnt toffee flavor. It is largely an earthy beer that has a rather robust earthy flavor which would need a palate cleanser. Some alcohol popped in from time to time.

Mouthfeel: There is a dull hop bitterness (dull as in sharp or dull, not as in boring or interesting) that lounges on the palate and remains there. The body is medium-full. It feels heavy for an IPA. It is a slow drinker that will likely require a palate cleanser.

Overall: The can states that this is a "BAVARIAN IPA" and with a name like "REINDEER GAMES" it seems like the idea was to create a bit of an oddball IPA that doesn't fit the mold. The beer definitely does not fit the mold, but it doesn't exactly break it either. The somewhat interesting earthy and tea-like flavors present a malt and hop combination that is very "gray on gray." This was in a variety pack but if this were sold as a single or on tap I wouldn't buy it again.
Nov 27, 2022
 
Rated: 3.97 by FrancisM12 from New Jersey

Nov 26, 2022
 
Rated: 3.89 by Sammy from Canada (ON)

Nov 23, 2022
 
Rated: 4 by Velivolus1 from Vermont

Nov 22, 2022
Reindeer Games from Clown Shoes
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 307 ratings