Red Dragon Imperial Red Ale
Dead Frog Brewery

 

Appearance: Poured in to a Spiegelau IPA Glass. Dark red brown. Pours very nicely, carbonation bubbles are small and tight giving the red-tinged tan head more of a bubbly froth appearance than smooth creaminess. The head dissipates pretty quickly. A swirl of the glass gives the remaining ring a wonderful cascade of foam that glides uniformly back down onto the edge of the surface.

Aromatics: First scents with a full glass are a combination of fresh cut grass, grapes, honey melon, citrus, and caramel. The notes don’t linger too long, and there are hints of a more earthy citrus zest at the back. As the level get mid glass, the grape-ness loses out to more sweet and malty tones.

Taste: Very well balance between the malt and hops. Almost too well balanced? So much so you don't get a true shining star in either. The hop profile is a mild to moderate earthy and bitter flavour and I get just a hint of pine and liquorice, the sweetness in the malts almost mutes the hops though instead of supporting it. Not sure how I feel about that.

Feel: A gentle crispness with a moderate body, finished very dry - with an almost cardboard like texture. The bitterness from the hops doesn’t have that bite at the end that I normally get from Reds or IPAs.

Overall: Not a bad IRA, not overdone with the hops, and the choice of malt was sufficiently matched. And of course growing up as a skateboarder I can’t help but shout out to Red Dragon for hooking up with a brewing partner. Nice Job! I certainly hope to see more collaborations like this in the future - maybe something with a bit more punch! If you can make it to 8% do something in a 10% and you will for sure be in a whole new level imho.

 

A deliberate attempt to pass off femented scum from the swine trough as 'craft ale'. Good thing the alcohol content is there to compensate for being ripped off. Will avoid dead frogs in my ale in the future.

 

650ml bottle - this arrives in Alberta hot on the heels of its little bro, the Red Dragon Red Lager. 'Collect Experiences, Not Things' - whaddya think I'm doing here, eh?

This beer pours a clear, dark red-brick amber colour, with one finger of puffy, finely foamy, and somewhat bubbly beige head, which leaves a bit of low-lying coral reef lace around the glass as it quickly blows off.

It smells of gritty and grainy caramel malt, wet breakfast biscuits, muddled tropical fruit (underripe pineapple and lychee syrup, sure), a hint of damp ashiness, and plain leafy, herbal, and gently perfumed floral hop bitters. The taste is bready and slightly toasted caramel malt, browned apples and pears, a lessened exotic south seas fruitiness, some wayward son yeastiness, and more even-handed earthy, musty, and dead floral hoppiness.

The bubbles are adequate in their wanly supportive and otherwise benign frothiness, the body a so-so medium weight, and smooth enough, I suppose, but nothing worth texting home about, either. It finishes off-dry, the gently roasted caramel malt persisting well, alongside the waning fruity and verdant hops.

Yeah, I'm sensing (like one senses a clenched fist aimed their way) that this is one of Dead Frog's phone-it-in efforts, akin to their typical contract brewing quality, shall we say. At any rate, this seems to lack a whole lot of something - let's just call it 'roundness' - and move on, shall we?

8.0% ABV, 50 ibu, 650ml bottle.
A - two finger head, dark red color, greatly carbonized.
S - floral, melon, lychee, tropical fruit, stone fruit kinda sweetness. all refreshing nose.
T - light body, lychee water; bitterness came first, surprising with only 50 ibu; then malty.
O - great value with 8abv, went down easily, not much alcohol hint. get it if u wanna a booze.

 

 

 

 

 

Really fruity, citrus nose. Good balance of hoppy bitters and malt sweet. Very enjoyable

Good looking amber red in colour with nice creamy head. Beautiful tropical (pineapple and oranges) smell. Lots of tropical aromas with some citrus and strong pine needles aftertaste. Great balance between the malts and the hops. Potent! Definitely on the bitter side so if you're not a fan of IPA's, this won't be your cup of tea. Maybe a little too much effervescence in the mouth, could be more rounded. Overall, a great offering from this brewery!