Marooned At Sea
O'Connor Brewing Co.

 

 

Good beer!! A collaboration between Triple Cross Brewing (I am unfamiliar with) and O'Connor Brewing (I have enjoyed many of their beers). Pours a hazy reddish copper color with a medium size white head. Head retention is good and there are many complete bands of lacing on the glass. Double barrel aroma and flavor of citrus hops and bready malt. Very balanced but with big flavor presence for both malt and citrusy hops. The citrus is tangerine and tropical fruit primarily. Mouthfeel is crisp and sharp. The dryness and bitterness play up well on the tongue, I would like to see this on tap in Tidewater bars.

I love trying local beers, so my dad bought this newer 22 oz bottle release from O'Connor's in Norfolk. Poured into stemmed, tulip style glasses. Dark red, nicely carbonated. A very well balanced red IPA, which I expect. You get a nice malt backbone, with the hoppy, bitter finish. This Double Red IPA is very good.

 

This is a collaboration series between Triple Crossing Brewing and O'Connor Brewing Co. I don't see any bottle date listed. The label indicates this beer has 85 IBU's. The label also lists this beer as a Double Red IPA.

Appearance: The beer is extremely murky and opaque. It looks as if the glass was painted the color of the beer. It is a darker shade of orange-brown. The head is thick and fluffy that is white with a tobacco stained yellow appearance. The head has good retention and keeps a low but not thin head that develops some spiderweb lacing on the glass.

Aroma: The beer has a nice pine resin aroma and I am getting a bit of caramel mixed in there as well.

Taste: It has some light bitterness that is immediately noticeable. There is a touch of grapefruit but it is very mellow. There is also a bit of a sweet bread crust flavor. No alcohol flavor. The overall flavor of this beer is very laid back. While it is nice it really doesn't push the envelope in any way. Even the bitterness seems very low for an 85 IBU beer.

Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel is really nice. The medium body and light bitterness with a smooth presence over the palate really make this beer drinkable. It has a nice bitter finish.

Overall: It is just another average Double IPA. It doesn't stand out in the aroma or flavor. There are other readily available beers that I would recommend over this one. It is an enjoyable beer but it just doesn't have any soul. The label says "this brew goes overboard with bright citrus and tropical fruit flavors and aromas" and if this is the brewer's intent they completely missed the mark. The label also says "rich malt backbone provides an even keel" and on this I will agree. The malt character does balance out the bitterness nicely but there just isn't enough flavor or aroma in this beer. I doubt I would drink it again given the average alternatives.

Poured a dark, reddish copper body with one-finger head and left a lace ring that slowly died. Aroma is a burst of citric hops with a oily, almost piney, and floral notes with a hint of malt backbone. A tad bitter and tastebud nuking for my liking but in no way a hop bomb, the beer is medium-bodied and the malts do add enough balance (sweetness and backbone) to ensure it's not a hop bomb. Mostly a hoppy beer that gives off citric notes with a dry, bitter, earthy bent to them. Not a bad collaboration at all and a pretty good red ale, although my preference is a bit more sweet malts coming through.

An Imperial Red IPA brewed in collaboration with Triple Crossing Brewing Company. Another success, TCB always does well with IPAs and this is more evidence