Hackney Red IPA
Brodie's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amber color with a thick head with nice retention and leaving some laces.
Nice and original aroma of wild berries, sweet malt and honey, and grapefruits.
Sweet fruity flavor with predominant notes of strawberries and toasted malts. Very dry and bitter aftertaste.
Medium body with low carbonation.
Nice Red IPA, I had never got such strawberry flavor in the style. Worth it trying.

Enjoyed a pour of this rare offering at Teresa's Next Door with my lovely wife. I was certain it was from the UK when I asked for some feedback from the bartender and he explained how much of this he had been pumping out this weekend, so I ordered it up with no hesitation.
Arrived a beautiful rusty red, hazy and with a full finger of tan head.
Definite west coast hop goodness with my first whiff and a nice biscuit balance from the malt.
Taste was worth the price of admission. Not pushing boundaries for our friends on the left coast, but for where this comes from, I am highly impressed. Very bitter, and a great balance of caramel malt and piney, citrusy hops. It is a Red IPA after all, so I believe they nailed it. Carbonation for the way this was served was outstanding and the finish was super clean.
Very glad to have ordered this one. Recommend.

On key keg at Mason & Taylor, Bethnal Green, London.

Glowing amber with creamy white collar that sheets. Big strawberry, orange, and caramel nose.
Dark toast and toffee quickly buried by sprucey, resiny hops.
Bitter orange rind and lemon zest finish, aspirin linger. Medium, sticky, maybe a bit of oil.

Might be the most proper IPA in London outside Kernel. Brings real IBUs - is there Simcoe in there? The beauty of the malts is you don’t taste them much but with all these hops, they must be there for this to be in balance. Which it very much is.

Handpump halfpint at the King William IV. Described by the brewery's website as a "[d]eep ruby red West Coast IPA. Amarillo, Columbus and Citra."

A: Clear copper body under a thin but sticky off-white head that leaves some decent lace. Definitely on the dark side for an IPA, but not quite red enough to be called an Amber. Ok.

S: Fruity, tropical hops and some caramel malt. Quite sweet, but also quite pleasant.

T: Follows the nose, but with more emphasis on the sweet caramel malt. Especially toward the finish the hoppy flavors totally give way to the treacly malt. As a red ale it's great, as an IPA it's too sweet. Either way it's tasty.

M: Medium body, very light carbonation. Ok.

O: If this is what Londoners think a West Coast IPA is like, they need to do some more research. That said, it was a damn tasty ale.

Cheers!