Fireweed
Gild Brewing

this is a really clever beer, something totally different, an india red kolsch, if thats enough of a style mashup for you! man. i thought it sounded weird, but it works, even if it doesnt neatly fit into any particular beer category, they have a good thing going on here. its deep crimson in color, even almost brown in the dim light of their taproom, with a high rising tan head on top, real airy and light. aroma here is hoppy first, some pine in here, kind of cozy wintery notes, fresh as can be, supported by a sweet rich grain base that has a long boiled concentrated property to it, and some specialty element, like some abbey malt like might be found in a dubbel or something. on top of that, there is this german yeast character, the kolsch part, thats lightly fruity pushing through and oddly obvious, even with everything else going on with it. the flavor is somewhat more unified than it sounds like it could possibly be, but its almost like a red ipa thats been lagered, there is a crispness to it that interrupts the maltiness, there are some neat dark fruit layers that work great with the hops, and enough bitterness to balance. the yeast is clean and obviously european, softly floral with the hops, and overall this is both well refined and very complex, an impressive beer conceptually, and they really pulled it off. real cool.