Hellbrook
The Alchemist


- From:
- The Alchemist
- Vermont, United States
- Style:
- Imperial Red Ale
Ranked #11 - ABV:
- 7%
- Score:
- 91
Ranked #7,798 - Avg:
- 4.11 | pDev: 7.3%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 47
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Yesterday at 06:41 PM
- Added:
- Mar 01, 2005
- Wants:
- 6
- Gots:
- 17
This American double red ale is packed with enough hops to balance the full malty body.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by VABA from Virginia
4.25/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.25/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pours a dark ruby color with a nice head and lacing
Aroma has fruity and citrus hints
Taste has a fruity and citrus flavor
A medium bodied well carbonated beer
A good Imperial Red Ale
Yesterday at 06:41 PMAroma has fruity and citrus hints
Taste has a fruity and citrus flavor
A medium bodied well carbonated beer
A good Imperial Red Ale
Reviewed by sulldaddy from Connecticut
4.28/5 rDev +4.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
4.28/5 rDev +4.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Sampling a cold 16 oz can poured into a shaker pint. Date stamp is 1/14/2026. My uncle picked this up at the brewery recently.
The beer pours a rich caramel brown color with some amber tint, but more brown ale color than reddish. A creamy fizzy beige head of .5 cm foams up and fades to a sturdy surface covering soon after the pour. There is some scattered lattice when I take a sip or swirl the beer.
The aroma on this beer is some toffee and caramel with hints of roast and a good balance of piney and grassy hops. Well balanced nose with no hint of booziness.
First sip reveals a medium to lighter body with smooth texture and fine , prickly carbonation. Pretty easy drinker here.
Flavor follows what the nose advertises on this beer. I get some toasted malt and caramel up front, only hints of sweetness and then the finish is pine and here, more citrus grapefruit note. The rindy grapefruit note lingers for a long time after the swallow. Never any hints of the booze on this beer.
This is an easy drinking well balanced beer. Id drink it again!
Feb 15, 2026The beer pours a rich caramel brown color with some amber tint, but more brown ale color than reddish. A creamy fizzy beige head of .5 cm foams up and fades to a sturdy surface covering soon after the pour. There is some scattered lattice when I take a sip or swirl the beer.
The aroma on this beer is some toffee and caramel with hints of roast and a good balance of piney and grassy hops. Well balanced nose with no hint of booziness.
First sip reveals a medium to lighter body with smooth texture and fine , prickly carbonation. Pretty easy drinker here.
Flavor follows what the nose advertises on this beer. I get some toasted malt and caramel up front, only hints of sweetness and then the finish is pine and here, more citrus grapefruit note. The rindy grapefruit note lingers for a long time after the swallow. Never any hints of the booze on this beer.
This is an easy drinking well balanced beer. Id drink it again!
Rated by untitledeuphoria from New York
3.99/5 rDev -2.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.99/5 rDev -2.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A quality beer, just not what you would be looking for in a red. Darker, maltier, smokier.
Feb 09, 2025Reviewed by TheDoctor from Canada (QC)
4.29/5 rDev +4.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.29/5 rDev +4.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Serving: Can
No date (Consumed Aug-30)
It pours looking fairly brown and clean with a very nice, billowing white head. I think this one's an oldie. cause it looks a little like a snow globe when I make the stupid decision to do a second pour from the can. Nice retention and lots of Belgian lace.
Big, earthy, leafy hop aromas with toasty malt sweetness, black tea and caramel closed out by a lingering resinous, sappy hop stickiness, there is a very light (meaning towards white on the choc- spectrum not faint) chocolate and a decent amount of ripe grapefruit in both the aroma and flavor. It is medium bodied with active carbonation and a dry, hop shellac finish. Very drinkable for as big and bold as it is in both the hop and malt departments. This is a very nice beer with a great balance of just about every flavor you would think could possibly be associated with the style. I love a good Amber whenever I get one, I miss when they were more available and even though this seems more like a red IPA, it still scratched that itch for me.
4.25*...4...4.5...4.25...4.25
*- Until I liked the taste enough to want to pour out that last 1/10 of the liquid and then it dropped it to a 3.25
Aug 31, 2019No date (Consumed Aug-30)
It pours looking fairly brown and clean with a very nice, billowing white head. I think this one's an oldie. cause it looks a little like a snow globe when I make the stupid decision to do a second pour from the can. Nice retention and lots of Belgian lace.
Big, earthy, leafy hop aromas with toasty malt sweetness, black tea and caramel closed out by a lingering resinous, sappy hop stickiness, there is a very light (meaning towards white on the choc- spectrum not faint) chocolate and a decent amount of ripe grapefruit in both the aroma and flavor. It is medium bodied with active carbonation and a dry, hop shellac finish. Very drinkable for as big and bold as it is in both the hop and malt departments. This is a very nice beer with a great balance of just about every flavor you would think could possibly be associated with the style. I love a good Amber whenever I get one, I miss when they were more available and even though this seems more like a red IPA, it still scratched that itch for me.
4.25*...4...4.5...4.25...4.25
*- Until I liked the taste enough to want to pour out that last 1/10 of the liquid and then it dropped it to a 3.25
Reviewed by ChipChaight from New York
4.16/5 rDev +1.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.16/5 rDev +1.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Can from brewery in Stowe, VT. Pours a dark amber brown with lots of floating yeast particles, fluffy light tan head and good lacing, nose is fairly muted, hints of toasted malts, molasses, and bread/yeast, taste is nice light roasted malts up front followed by crisp bitter hops that lingers, this beer is medium bodied and creamy. A nice malt-hop balanced offering, this would be my jam during the winter holiday season.
Aug 18, 2019Reviewed by FFreak from Vermont
4.32/5 rDev +5.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
4.32/5 rDev +5.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
This is a great example of a hoppy red ale, which are hard to fine and I absolutely love. Pours dark redish-brown with a tall, pinkish head that disipates slowly and leaves nice lace. Smell is a great combination of hops and roasted malt. I just love the taste of this one....and the body is perfect for the style. Overall, a typically well done Alchemist execution of a non-typical style. Wish I'd bought more.
Jul 09, 2019Reviewed by dfillius from Iowa
3.78/5 rDev -8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.78/5 rDev -8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
The best example I’ve had of a style I’m not huge into. Something about the bitterness and the malt characteristics in a red just land wrong on my palate. Mild, hoppy aroma. Little to none of the off flavor that I associate with reds. Fun and juicy hops. Robust caramel malt. Quite bitter and slightly astringent finish.
Jul 03, 2019Reviewed by Luscious_Malfoy from Illinois
4.34/5 rDev +5.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.34/5 rDev +5.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
poured from a 16oz can into a willi becher pint glass. pours a dark maroon with dirty, tan head. could pass for a brown ale. smell is straight up old school classic hops. piney, resiny, and very much in your face. a little bit of maltiness to the nose but this essentially smells like a red IPA. taste is piney hops with some bready malt backing it up. feel is full, creamy and lower carbonation. very nice on the mouthfeel. overall, it’s a lot hoppier than i expected (although i should’ve known better coming from the alchemist). it’s quite enjoyable though. not too hoppy. not too malty. good balance and quite easy drinking for 7%.
Jun 21, 2019
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