Red IPA
Shipyard Brewing Company

I had been closing in on finishing up yesterday's New Shipyard Beer Sunday (Week 672) with this one & one other when I finally ran out of gas as I was getting gassed. I want to get it drank & reviewed now to close out the string & move on to the next big thing, but doing so while the iron is still hot & the memory still fresh.

From the bottle: "India Pale Ale".

They certainly do not give away much on their labels, but so be it. I knew that it was going to be another screwed-up screw-off cap, but I prised it off while keeping my anger & disappointment in check as I heard the Pop! I performed a slow, gentle pour into the awaiting glass & then gave it an in-glass swirl to raise just over two fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, light-tan head with good retention that left nice lacing in its wake. Color was Deep Amber/Light Copper to Copper (SRM = > 13, < 17) with NE-quality clarity. Nose had a resinous pine-like quality with a caramel malt backbone. Once more, the mouthfeel was on the thin side. I have noticed this in just about every beer from them of the past couple of days, leading me to wonder if their local water source is really soft or if they are overly softening their water at the brewery. The taste was more fruity than the nose had led me to expect with tropical fruit and melon flavors finding their way into the mix. I would have preferred that the piney earthiness remained at the forefront, but such was not the case. Finish was dry, but not as bitter as I would like in the style. It bordered on the cusp of being an English IPA, IMHO. YMMV.

 

Decanted from a 12 oz (355 ml) bottle into a conical pint glass; bottled on June 23, 2017 (but refrigerated since purchase).
A: Pours a hazy orange copper color with a three quarter inch, egg shell white head, modest retention, and modest rings of lacing.
S: Biscuity with a slight mocha touch. Almost a rye note. The medium to dark roasted maltiness is very much in evidence.
T: Palate very much follows the nose the limited hoppy bitterness allowing the darker malts shine through.
M: Medium bodied with robust carbonation. Light sweet aftertaste.
O: Interesting Red IPA. Essentially had it with dessert after Thanksgiving leftover. Really worked for that.

 

 

 

 

Poured from a brown 12 oz. bottle. Has a hazy amber color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of grapefruit, pineapple. Taste is grapefruit, resin, malts, light pineapple, fairly bitter. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is one of the better beers I have had from this brewery.

 

Served on tap in a pint glass.

Appearance: Darker amber with a thin white off white head.

Smell: Light hops and citrus.

Mouthfeel/ Taste: Smooth medium bodied. Taste of bitter hops and pine with a hint of citrus.

Overall: Good IPA. I would have this one again.

 

 

 

12oz bottle - 'red' IPAs get a pass from me, in the sense that red can still be 'pale'. Or something.

This beer pours a glassy, medium red-brick amber colour, with two fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly ecru head, which leaves some streaky limestone arch lace around the glass as it quickly abates.

It smells of gritty and grainy caramel malt, estery citrus rind, some pineapple, guava, and kiwi tropicals, a hint of earthy yeastiness, and more leafy, weedy, and dead floral green hop bitters. The taste is grainy and bready caramel malt, mixed stone fruit notes, plain domestic citrus, a gently phenolic yeasty character, some further muddled exotic fruitiness, and more understated leafy, herbal, and floral verdant hops.

The carbonation is fairly tame in its quotidian frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and more or less smooth, the hoppy bitterness perhaps the only minor transgressor here. It finishes off-dry, the capable caramel malt carrying on, in the face of a waning yeasty and generic hop counterpoint.

Overall, like most of the other offerings from this brewery that I've had the occasion to try, I come away feeling underwhelmed, even if there are no obvious flaws at which I can nitpick. Okay, I guess, as that particular yeast strain always seems to be just below the surface.

 

 

 

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 1/21/2016. Pours hazy reddish orange/copper color with a 2 finger fairly dense and rocky light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass. Aromas of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, lemon zest, orange peel, pine, caramel, toasted biscuit, light chocolate/nuttiness, and floral/grassy earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus/tropical/pine hops and moderate dark/bready malt notes; with good strength. Taste of big grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, lemon zest, orange peel, pine, caramel, toasted biscuit, light chocolate/nuttiness, and floral/grassy earthiness. Moderate pine/grassy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, lemon/orange peel, pine, caramel, toasted biscuit, and floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/tropical/pine hops and moderate dark/bready malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and zero astringent hop flavors after the finish. Light dryness from bitterness, increasing through the glass. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth and moderately creamy/bready/sticky balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.9%. Overall this is very nice Red IPA. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/tropical/pine hops and moderate dark/bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink. A very enjoyable offering.