Island of Misfits IPA
Red Hare Brewing Company

 

Look: It pours cloudy orange with a white head. Head retention is moderate.

Smell: The aromas are tropical fruit with a bit of pineapple. There is also a bit of melon. There is a hint of alcohol.

Taste: It has pineapple and tropical fruit flavors with a bit of floral and grainy sweetness.

Feel: It has a moderate feel with a slight bit of alcohol warming. It has moderate bitterness with a bit of a bite at the end.

Overall, it's a fairly tropical IPA with a few other elements mixed in.

 

 

 

Pours dark amber with half a finger head, just a bit of foam after two sips. The big story here is smell (pine like a christmas tree) and taste (more pine and nice bitterness after), with a very slight tangerine whiff. A little more carbonation than I prefer, but that does help cut into the piney flavor nicely. Pretty label, a wrap over a can labeled differently, nice artwork. Bottom line, nice hoppy pine flavor, quite good.

Poured it up into the Red Hare Six Years of Six Packs glass.

The appearance was hazy with a finger of head. Pungent aromas of mosaic hops, and a sharp bitterness that is the hallmark of this brew, for the IBU is 74. This IPA definitely had the flavor signature of being an imperial or a double. In addition upon consumption, I was reminiscent of Victory's Dirtwolf Double IPA. I found myself sticking my nose into the rim of the glass sniffing it like an olfactory obsessed hound dog with a new mysterious treat. My drinking pleasure came from its smoothness and strong hoppy backbone.

The artwork is extraordinary with the abominable snowman from Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer on it. This brewery did a great job paying careful attention to detail of paying homage to the Island of Misfit Toys.

Overall, this is a great beer that's an escape from the average fall or winter ales that try to complicate the flavor of beer too much. This one keeps it simple, but does not sacrifice the robust flavor or neglect the smorgasbord aromas.