Roundhouse IRA | Bell's Brewery, Inc.
Brewed by:
Bell's Brewery, Inc.
Michigan, United States
bellsbeer.com
Style: American Amber / Red Ale
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 7.50%
Availability: Rotating
Notes / Commercial Description:
Substantial amounts of late-kettle hop additions and dry-hopping yields a heady blend of fruity aromas of pineapple, peach and citrus. Those aromas continue into a crisply bitter hop presence across the tongue, but the judicious use of toasted and caramel specialty malts prevents the hop intensity from overwhelming the palate.
Locally sourced Michigan honey creates a smooth, dry finish that pulls everything together.
The India Red Ale style is a variation on the IPA, but with more caramel and toasted malt character and a reddish hue.
Roundhouse was first brewed at our original brewery in downtown Kalamazoo in 2009.
Added by luciusgilmer on 02-25-2009
View: Beers | Place Reviews | Events
Ratings: 520 | Reviews: 111
3.75/5 rDev -6.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
4.15/5 rDev +3.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.5/5 rDev +11.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
3.92/5 rDev -2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
3.93/5 rDev -2.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
P- Poured from a 12 oz can,into a Funky Buddha snifter.No date on the can.
L- Frothy light khaki colored head that stands 1 finger tall,with very good retention and sticky lacing.Hazy ruby red body with low clarity,and distorted light showing through the glass.Heavy amount of carbonation.
S- On the nose I get caramel and toasty malt notes,backed up by some light tropical fruit and cherry notes.
T- On the palate I get bitter pine hops up front,toasty caramel malts in the middle,and cherries on the back end with some more toasty malts to balance it.
F- The mouth feel is medium bodied and slightly sticky,with a good amount of oxidation on the tongue.Slightly dry on the finish.
T- This is a pretty decent beer.Nit something I would drink all the time,but something I would drink again.Give it a try and decide for yourself.
833 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
P- Poured from a 12 oz can,into a Funky Buddha snifter.No date on the can.
L- Frothy light khaki colored head that stands 1 finger tall,with very good retention and sticky lacing.Hazy ruby red body with low clarity,and distorted light showing through the glass.Heavy amount of carbonation.
S- On the nose I get caramel and toasty malt notes,backed up by some light tropical fruit and cherry notes.
T- On the palate I get bitter pine hops up front,toasty caramel malts in the middle,and cherries on the back end with some more toasty malts to balance it.
F- The mouth feel is medium bodied and slightly sticky,with a good amount of oxidation on the tongue.Slightly dry on the finish.
T- This is a pretty decent beer.Nit something I would drink all the time,but something I would drink again.Give it a try and decide for yourself.
833 characters
3.17/5 rDev -21.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
3.48/5 rDev -13.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
bells normally is solid. Hadn't had Roundhouse before. Very enjoyable. Honey at first. Kind of traditional red in the middle and then hoppy IPA bitter flower finish. Solid
175 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
bells normally is solid. Hadn't had Roundhouse before. Very enjoyable. Honey at first. Kind of traditional red in the middle and then hoppy IPA bitter flower finish. Solid
175 characters
4.14/5 rDev +3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.25
Just picked this up today however when I got home I learned that the canning date was 8/31/16 and the beer has a shelf life of 6 months, per the brewer. Today is a little over 7 months from the canning date, so hopefully it will still be okay.
L: A hazy caramel red with an ample amount of tan head.
S: Strong red fruit and tropical fruit aromas, including cherry and mango. Also can detect some honey and sweet malts
T: The taste is interesting. The hopiness is perhaps a bit more from what I would have expected given the smell. The honey and malts come through more in the taste, but the fruitiness is diminished, though still detectable.
F: Medium-full bodied. Feel is pretty syrupy, more than I like. Carbonation is moderate-light.
O: Overall a good beer. I wish the feel was less syrupy and I wish the hops were brought down in the taste in order for the fruit flavors to stand out more.
899 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.25
Just picked this up today however when I got home I learned that the canning date was 8/31/16 and the beer has a shelf life of 6 months, per the brewer. Today is a little over 7 months from the canning date, so hopefully it will still be okay.
L: A hazy caramel red with an ample amount of tan head.
S: Strong red fruit and tropical fruit aromas, including cherry and mango. Also can detect some honey and sweet malts
T: The taste is interesting. The hopiness is perhaps a bit more from what I would have expected given the smell. The honey and malts come through more in the taste, but the fruitiness is diminished, though still detectable.
F: Medium-full bodied. Feel is pretty syrupy, more than I like. Carbonation is moderate-light.
O: Overall a good beer. I wish the feel was less syrupy and I wish the hops were brought down in the taste in order for the fruit flavors to stand out more.
899 characters
3.84/5 rDev -4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
a fun offering in the can here from bells. its a red ipa at its heart, but it has some honey in it too, a cool touch which makes this a pretty interesting beer, even though its not at all my favorite of their hoppy stuff. very very malty as its heart, toasted and rich and red, better for fall than spring, with the honey adding bright floral sweetness to the already caramelized sweetness from the grain. when a beer is sweet and you need it to be hoppy, you add a ton of hops to try and surmount that, which is exactly what they have done here, so the beer is bold in both facets, and the hops seem almost too much, like they might have been better off leaving it in the pale ale range or something, but hop oiliness is really high, and the bitterness is even higher, its all too much really, and one can ended up feeling like a lot of beer to me, bitter hop burps for miles, and a lot of grain weight in the belly. i like what the honey adds, the flavor is unique for sure, and its great with the base malts here. the hops have a fully compatible flavor profile, but i think there is just too much of them, too much bitterness, they never really embrace the malt base the way they could in lower dose. cool beer though, definitely something a little different in the ipa world, which tends to breed a lot of samey beers. i like this direction.
1,346 characters
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
a fun offering in the can here from bells. its a red ipa at its heart, but it has some honey in it too, a cool touch which makes this a pretty interesting beer, even though its not at all my favorite of their hoppy stuff. very very malty as its heart, toasted and rich and red, better for fall than spring, with the honey adding bright floral sweetness to the already caramelized sweetness from the grain. when a beer is sweet and you need it to be hoppy, you add a ton of hops to try and surmount that, which is exactly what they have done here, so the beer is bold in both facets, and the hops seem almost too much, like they might have been better off leaving it in the pale ale range or something, but hop oiliness is really high, and the bitterness is even higher, its all too much really, and one can ended up feeling like a lot of beer to me, bitter hop burps for miles, and a lot of grain weight in the belly. i like what the honey adds, the flavor is unique for sure, and its great with the base malts here. the hops have a fully compatible flavor profile, but i think there is just too much of them, too much bitterness, they never really embrace the malt base the way they could in lower dose. cool beer though, definitely something a little different in the ipa world, which tends to breed a lot of samey beers. i like this direction.
1,346 characters
4/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours a clear dark reddish orange color with off-white colored head. Light fruits, pine, and a caramel maltiness on the nose; follows onto the palate. Full bodied. Finishes with light fruit, little pine and nice malt backbone.
226 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours a clear dark reddish orange color with off-white colored head. Light fruits, pine, and a caramel maltiness on the nose; follows onto the palate. Full bodied. Finishes with light fruit, little pine and nice malt backbone.
226 characters
4.04/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Deep red gold color with thick tan cap and good lacing.
Aroma of rich caramel malt, toffee, bright pine and tropical hops.
Taste is heavily malt forward with an emphasis on caramel toffee flavors. I don't know if roasted malt is used but there is a noticeable lack of roast malt bitterness. Hops have some tropical fruit influence underscored by pine. Very complex melange of interwoven flavors that carry an air of sweetness without actually tasting sweet. Everything comes together nicely.
Chewy full texture that is almost silky in feel.
Outstanding achievement here in a full blown style. Very likable stuff.
621 characters
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Deep red gold color with thick tan cap and good lacing.
Aroma of rich caramel malt, toffee, bright pine and tropical hops.
Taste is heavily malt forward with an emphasis on caramel toffee flavors. I don't know if roasted malt is used but there is a noticeable lack of roast malt bitterness. Hops have some tropical fruit influence underscored by pine. Very complex melange of interwoven flavors that carry an air of sweetness without actually tasting sweet. Everything comes together nicely.
Chewy full texture that is almost silky in feel.
Outstanding achievement here in a full blown style. Very likable stuff.
621 characters
4.5/5 rDev +11.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.84/5 rDev +20.4%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
3.75/5 rDev -6.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.78/5 rDev -6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Poured 12oz can into snifter. Darker amber with some rust color and 3 finger dirty white head that slowly fades into a cap and leaves webbed lacing all over my glass. Sweet and roasted malts, caramel with some breadiness. Bitter piney hops follow along with citrus. Sweet malts and honey caramel up front overtaken by hops in the middle and finish. Some citrus, more bitter pine and a bit of earthiness dominate after the malts. Finish is a nice pine bitter. Medium body and very good carbonation with a bitter and dry finish. Enjoyable at $5.99 for a six pack.
562 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Poured 12oz can into snifter. Darker amber with some rust color and 3 finger dirty white head that slowly fades into a cap and leaves webbed lacing all over my glass. Sweet and roasted malts, caramel with some breadiness. Bitter piney hops follow along with citrus. Sweet malts and honey caramel up front overtaken by hops in the middle and finish. Some citrus, more bitter pine and a bit of earthiness dominate after the malts. Finish is a nice pine bitter. Medium body and very good carbonation with a bitter and dry finish. Enjoyable at $5.99 for a six pack.
562 characters
Roundhouse IRA from Bell's Brewery, Inc.
4.02
out of 5
based on 520 ratings.
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
I am on a CANQuest (tm) for a little while to give myself a break from eradicating The Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody. I've been away for so long that it's good to be back.
From the CAN: "India Red Ale Brewed with Honey"; "This IRA frestires bright, juicy, tropical fruit and citrus aromas balanced with a judicious amount of toasted and caramel specialty malts."
I am becoming accustomed to a gentle Glug following the Crack! since I just do not feel like ChANcing a mess that I will have to clean up afterwards. My in-glass swirl led to the creation of two fingers of puffy, foamy, light-tan head with decent retention. Color was Deep Amber/Light Copper to Copper (SRM = > 13, < 17) with NE-quality clarity. Nose was an interesting mélange of caramel & honey sweetness, tropical fruitiness, light citrusiness and an AmeriCAN hoppy bitterness. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste began with a honey & caramel sweetness, but slowly, the tropical fruity & grapefruit hops flavors began to assert themselves. I liked the way that so many varying flavors worked so well together. It was a really interesting take on a passed-over style from the early days of microbrewing. Finish was semi-dry and it was an eminently drinkable beer. I could see this being kind of dangerous in the cooler at the beach, given its ABV and drinkability.
1,333 characters