Chandelier Red IPA
Surreal Brewing Company

RB transfer

Clear, deep bronze appearance with a small tan head and light lacing. Earthy aroma of caramel malts that slide a bit into vegetable territory. Also noticing some herbal hops. Taste gets caught up in the same rut; strong malt backbone with a modest hop profile. Light bodied mouthfeel and good carbonation. Not fair to compare to the full flavored red ale style but it still has a way to go to compete with the better NA's now available.

From the can, it pours a clear reddish brown color with a nice light tan head that slowly reduces. Some lacing. The nose gets a dose of earthy hops and dank malts. The mouth gets a bit of red ale tasting malts. Gorgeous to look at, disappointing to taste to me.

Had this on 2022-10-10 near Pittsburgh, PA from a 12oz can

A - Ruby brown with a 2-finger tan head and light lace

S - Molasses, buckwheat, light spice

T - Buckwheat, molasses, light caramel, earthy spice and mild bitterness

M - Light medium body and medium carbonation. Fairly substantial

O - Pretty decent for 33 calories. A little too much buckwheat flavor for me though.

 

Poured from 12oz can into a dimpled mug. Canned 4/9/21.

Appearance: rich, dark red-brown hue with a thin layer of light tan foam atop. The body color is great, even if there's not much to the head.

Smell: there's a little bit of caramel/toffee aroma here, as well as an earthy, vegetal hop character. But it lacks a real malty oomph. It's not terrible, but it's not especially convincing as a beer.

Taste: the flavor starts out with a little bit of caramel character, and finishes with a little bit of a burnt-malt flavor that I would expect in a stout or porter. Hoppiness seems low and there's a bit of a watery thing going on here.

Mouthfeel: very light body indeed, with a bit of carbonation. Like a lot of NA beers, they really haven't gotten the ... thickness I want in a beer.

Overall: this isn't the worst NA beer in the world, but it is rather on the light-and-watery side of the scale. Maybe those who are more into red ales in general would appreciate this more.

Not sure what but there is something in this one I don't like. Something smoky, or metallic as someone else said or old coffee? Given other great NA choices I found lately, not sure why I would get this again.

Pours hazy, mahogany in color with one inch head. Taste is caramel, peat, and slight herbal hops. Medium bodied, sweet with moderate carbonation. Solid and unique. Hops are not as pronounced as I would expect but would get this again.

At least Total Wine has a large variety of NA beer so there is a lot of suffering to be had from different brands. Chandelier IPA has a faint hoppiness that leads to the IPA style, but no real malt presence for the red designation. Actually, this isn't as bad as it seems but it's not very good. Kind of tastes like hoppy chemical dish water, thin, decent carbonation, smooth. I guess I'd buy it again once I get through the selection.

Pours a murky reddish brown, but clear enough to to see the floaties; big, fluffy/rocky dark beige head; long cap retention; moderate plus lacing. Sweet malt nose. Semi sweet caramel malt; no detectable bitterness. Zippy feel, high carbonation; lite, almost watery body. Overall, like drinking highly carbonated malt water; I found no hops in the nose or on the tongue; otherwise, I agree with the label - it was “refreshing”, despite an odd metallic linger.

I knew the key component taste of this beer instantly: it's old coffee, like 6-hour old watery instant coffee that's gone cold. It looks and smells very similar, the only saving grace here is that it's heavily carbonated. Really not much more to say, disappointingly marginal to poor beverage, especially considering the cost.

Tea colored, tan head. Highly carbonated.
Floral fresh hop scent.
Taste; rye bread, toffee, grassy hop finish.
Medium/thin; hoppy presence throughout.
Very drinkable. A bit thin. There’s almost no alcohol and only 33 calories. This must be factored into the equation.

 

A: A very dark brown color with a light red hue, and a large tan head.

S: Smells like caramel and herds. Like watery root beer. Perhaps a touch of licorice.

T: light bitterness and some herbal notes. Watery, and some malt.

M: Medium light in body, with plenty of carbonation, and an astringent finish.

O: Overall it's pretty rough. I'd almost rather have an Odouls. I was hoping some leaps would have been made in the NA market, but this isn't great. Maybe a porter or a brown.

 

This would be a great substitute for Bass Pale Ale for NA drinkers. Smoky flavor with hints of coffee and chocolate. The hops in this are not pronounced to me at all and it's pretty malty - I'm surprised by the IPA label. There's just a bit of sourness to the finish. A little thin but not bad. Probably not going to be a go-to choice for me, but I think this will appeal to some beer drinkers who prefer a maltier beer.

I heard this was a good NA IPA. I disagree. It's like carbonated water with some slight IPA flavors. Way too watery. Not the consistency of a real beer. Flavor very weak. If you want NA IPA try Clausthaler Dry Hopped or Hellraiser Amber. Those are the closest I've had and they feel like real beers, like 250 calorie IPAs. Granted with no alcohol you have to set your standards accordingly.

Pours a dark amber in color with a hint of red, very minimal head and lacing as you drink. Carbonation looks pretty solid, though. It looks like a beer, if a bit thin. The aroma is predominantly malty. Chocolate, caramel cola. Hops are almost non-existent in the aroma... if I really struggle I can get a hint of floral zest. A fair amount of flavor on the tongue, although it comes off more like a brown ale than a red IPA. Lots of malts which follow the nose pretty well; roasty caramel and chocolate. Finishes zesty and dry with slight bitterness. By far the biggest weakness of this beer is the non-existent body. It's thin with lively, zesty carbonation, which makes it feel a bit like drinking a soda.

Overall, this is the best NA beer I've had so far, although it still leaves plenty to be desired. I think marketing this as a red IPA is a bit of a misnomer, it's definitely more of a brown ale in my opinion. If they can figure out a way to make the body a little less thin and more creamy/chewy this would be a pretty solid NA.

Look: This beer comes in a deep red hue. Even my aggressive pour down the center of a tulip has only yielded half of a finger of head. The head itself is off-white in color and sudsy. It dissipates quickly but leaves a persistent ring of bubbles around the edge as well a little bit of lacing.

Smell: Smells like a N/A beer. There are discernible aromas of hops and malt, but no distinct flavors I can pick out.

Taste: The taste is weird. I think Chinook was one of the hops used in this "beer." It's bitter to a degree (the brewer claims 48 IBU post a triple hopping procedure) but doesn't feel like an IPA. There is very little substance to the taste. I guess, to me, this is what I imagine hop water to be like.

Feel: Watered-down body, medium carbonation.

Overall: Umm... This isn't an IPA, not even close. Whichever way you look at this, it's not great. I really do respect the attempt, and for that, this gets 2.5 on Overall. But, in the end, what this is, is hop-flavored murky water.