Old Madrona
Island Hoppin' Brewery

Pours a nice rich rusty hue that does a good job of mimicking the bark of the namesake. Pillowy beige head that only ever dissipates to fuzz with piles and some big doe-eyed bubbles. Decent lacing.

Nose is very sweet. Kind of in a berry realm. Some straw gets through as well. Mostly smells like sweet wet grains. Some earthiness as I dig, but it's too sweet for my preference. (EDIT: as I mention below... letting it warm up a bit to room temperature takes this edge off of things and it trends towards a more enjoyable profile, though I still think the aroma is the weakest link in this particular brew)

Flavour doesn't jump quite as far into the high sweet notes as the nose, and that is a welcome shift. There's still some of it up front, and again it makes me think berries, but not like... fruity berries... almost like juniper berries or something, though that could be the marriage of the aforementioned flavour with a firm piney bitterness that dominates the finish. Anyway, after that brief foray into the narrowly defined wildberry sweets, it gets on to the good stuff. There's a graininess to the malts that I often find in red ales... not grainy in terms of texture, but in flavour. There's a blunt earthiness that blends between the malts and the hops and gives impressions of rye. Finish is boldly earthy bitterness that lingers through for a while.

Creamy and smoothe body with a good moderate carbonation to it, the less pleasant components I highlighted above become less pronounced as it warms. Letting it get closer to room temperature bumps the smell and taste ratings both for me by a noticeable amount, so I'd say don't dive right into this fresh out the fridge.
Letting it warm up, it went from hugely disappointing to solidly alright. I admit I was still hoping for more, mostly related to three marketing related reasons; 1: The name. Madrona trees are incredible, and they are beautiful, and they are meaningful to me and my family. Hell, we almost named our daughter Madrona! B: The brewery. I generally want to enjoy IH's stuff (despite the fact that back home we call it DORKas. got 'em.) My brother was born on Orcas, and I want the islands to put out good product. I feel like I've generally been mildly underwhelmed by most of their stuff, however. They're not bad or anything, but it's not something I'm going to brag on to my out of town friends, for example. iii: (less marketing per se...) I enjoy a good red. A mediocre red is generally disappointing. It's a style where the brewery really needs to nail it and it can be sublime, otherwise it's just kind of meh to me. This falls closer to that second category than the first. It's not bad. Especially if you let it get to room temperature. But it doesn't quite hit the spot for me personally as well as I had hoped it would. I don't regret picking it up or anything, not at all, it just isn't going to become my go-to imperial red or anything.

Handsome auburn color with long-lasting foam in the Stella Artois goblet. Lush and sudsy on the tongue. Plenty sweet and malty with a distinct sharp tang to balance. Aroma is musty, piney, and resiny. I think of an oxidized Old Ale of the British school. Tastes of green beans, canned peaches, and grapefruit peel with a woody finish.

Quite hoppy with a bitter aftertaste. In my opinion, if you're going to brew a Red Ale, make it Imperial. All those dirty hops, might as well have some booze and malt to lighten the load. From the 16 oz can purchased at Whidbey Beer Works. Dated 05/26/21 on the bottom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had this beer on-tap in a pint glass at Special Brews in Lynnwood, WA.

Appearance: rich amber hue with a moderate haze and light effervescence. Head is minimal, but the color is spot-on.

Smell: lightly sweet and citrusy; it's well-composed but a bit mild in intensity.

Taste: nice and citrusy right up front with a caramelly and toasty malt character. A little bit biscuity, but not too bad. I like the sweet/citrusy combination; it really works for me.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a rocky carbonation and creaminess. Not too bad.

Overall: a decent beer. Reds aren't always my preferred style, but I like the citrusy bent of this one.

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass from a sample bottle (not yet commercially bottled). Pours a medium to dark, ruddy bronze amber with a fine two finger light tan head with good retention and tons of lacing. Aroma is very malty, toasted and biscuit malt with faint citrus hops. Flavor follows, with heavy biscuit and roasty malt, with citrus hops and some alcohol developing and leaving a long, lingering malty bittering hop aftertaste. The malt dominates the flavor at first, but there is distinct hopping here that comes to the fore in the finish. Medium to heavy bodied with active carbonation. This beer is somewhere in the spectrum of old ales to strong ale; very malty, but also well hopped and even a touch boozy. A bit unbalanced because the initial malt is old-ale flavorful but the finish bitterness is surprisingly a bit harsh and seems like it should be well covered. Still, a nice malty ale that I would like to try again.

 

The bartender didn't have much info for me on this, if the style needs to be changed, please do so. Served in straight pint glass. Poured a clean, clear medium-dark amber with an inch of just off-white head that had good retention and lacing. A very hop-forward aroma featured mostly citrus, with some lightly earthy malts in the background. Citrus hops dominated the taste, with a lingering bitter finish. The malts had somewhat of a balancing effect. The body was fuller that typical the (presumed) style (this might be an Imperial Red, like OB's G'Knight), which is a positive in my eyes. Drinkability was good, but the bitter finish was a bit much for me, I probably wouldn't have more than one at a time. Overall, a nice enough brew, worth a shot if you see it.