Redshirt IPA
Comrade Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

red ipa is not a style that usually does very much for me, but this is an excellent take on it. its thankfully missing that sweet caramel malty middle that so often bogs these down and muddles the hops. instead its a lighter toasted cereal thing going on, far less sweet than an amber ale type base, and so the fresh resinous hops really stand out. oily lemon and pine come through really well in the nose and the taste, and a fuller body and a slightly greater depth is all i really get out of the red malts, i think thats a real success. its got a slick feel to it from the hops too, and not overly carbonated, so it gets a little big after a pint or so, not as drinkable as other hoppy beer from comrade, but with the fall right around the corner, i think they have hit an appropriate chord with this. before this one, it was the green flash and the founders as two of the only red ipa types i really chose to drink on a regular basis, but i would put this in a league with those, and will look forward to a few more of them as the evenings start to cool off here soon.

Thanks to GRG1313 for sharing this one at his tasting.

Pours a hazy copper with a foamy khaki head that settles to a partial film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, citrus fruit, and citrus zest aromas. Taste is much the same with citrus zest, grapefruit juice, and earth flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of hop bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer with solid citrus forward hop qualities all around.

Serving type: growler.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great beer. I had a pint at Mercantile and it immediately reminded me of Surly's Furious. Yes it's red, but it's mostly IPA, with a huge citrus burst and more subtle juicy fruit and melon notes. Richly flavored, but not too heavy. Damn good beer.