Friend Blindman - India Red Ale
Village Brewery

Pours a hazy copper to reddish amber with 4 fingers of tight bubbly cream to pale beige coloured head..
Earthy citrus hops on the nose - orange, orange peel, grapefruit and notes of caramel malt/toffee like, but the pungent citrus runs the show.
Tastes of caramel malt, burnt orange, grapefruit, and pine - earthy and slightly floral hops with a more subdued bitterness than expected from the nose. Certainly would have been ok with a bit more of that bitter punch.
Smooth malty medium mouthfeel on moderate carbonation, leaving with a slightly piney, floral and citrus bittersweetness.
More red IPAs would be great.

This year's one-off friend series brewed in collaboration with Blindman.

Appearance - Pours a hazy copper with three fingers of frothy off-white head.

Smell - earthy, leafy, floral, and weedy hops, caramel, bready malts, orange peel, and earthy yeast.

Taste - mild earthy, leafy, floral, and weedy hops upfront. The caramel and bready malts come through next followed by the orange peel. The earthy yeast rounds out the brew.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes sticky with the malts and hint of hops lingering.

Overall - A very malt forward red. I was hoping for more hop bitterness to shine through with this one. The hop profile in this one just needs some more oomph and this would be a stand out.