Stepchild Belgian India Red Ale
Good People Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

On tap at the brewery.

A: A reddish hue took center stage with a half finger off-white head that lingered. Decent lacing.

S: Piney hops, grapefruit, followed by Belgian yeast. What a unique combo.

T: And then, when a great hybrid taste. Grapefruit hoppiness over a terrific Belgian yeastiness. Smooth, balanced. Sweet and bitter all at once.

M: Medium with medium carbonation.

O: Don't know why they retired this one. But glad they still make it at the brewery. This stepchild is always welcome in my glass.

 

This beer was served on draft in glass mug as a very limited offering at the Free the Hops Oktoberfest. This was indeed a very special treat, although it didn't really fit into the German theme of the night. It was by far my favorite brew of more than 30 different craft beers served that night.

It poured a deep clear red with a nice fluffy white head. I took my first smell of this bad boy and it was all hops. The smell of the dry hops, which included Chinook, Simcoe, Amarillo, & Columbus, were the star. It had all the right IPA aroma of pine, citrus, and everything else a hop head "pines" for. I didn't get much of the Belgian yeast in the aroma due to the hops.

After my first sip, I knew this was going to be one of my all time favorite Good People beers. It had very nice bitterness upfront followed by a very nice malt backbone where the Belgian yeast came in. The finish of the taste was all hops. Even though the hops dominated the over all flavor, it was balanced.

The mouth feel was medium and somewhat dry. Carbonation was spot on and it left a good resinous hop slick in you mouth. The drink ability was very high and the alcohol was well hidden. This beer could have gotten me in trouble quickly if I did have to sample other beer. Nice work on this and I hope it is brewed in a large batch so more people can get a chance to try this one.