Wallula Red
Ice Harbor Brewing Company

I enjoyed an extended session of pints from the tap at the brewery while attending a home brewing class with a couple of beer buddies.

A: It poured a cloudy ruddy reddish brown with a sticky light colored tan head. The head had decent retention and supported leggy and lingering lacing.

S: It had a very pleasant toasted sweet malt base with a floral hop accent.

T: It began with a sweet malt profile that quickly was complemented by just enough bitter hops to divert attention from the malts. The hops were spicy but not aggressively so. The brew ended warm and relatively clean with a not unpleasant bitter aftertaste.

M: It was a medium bodied brew with moderate carbonation and a sweet front, spicy back and moderately bitter aftertaste.

D: I can attest to this beers virtues as a session brew. I took it deep and it held up well despite being somewhat on the thick side and having a higher ABV than most session brews.

This is a special, amped-up version of Ice Harbor's Runaway Red. It has a higher alcohol content and a robust, hoppy bite. Talking to the brewer, I got the impression this is something that this is brewed and put on-tap on an occaisional basis. Incidentally, the name Wallula originates from a Walla Walla Indian word meaning "place of many waters." Lake Wallula is the name the Army Corps of Engineers bestowed upon the stretch of the Columbia River that is dammed up by McNary Dam, including the portion that flows through the Tri-Cities.

This beer has a dark ruby-ish color, with a big off-white head that took it's time settling. The lace on the sides of the glass was spotty.

In addition to the usual sweet malty notes one normally encounters with an amber/red ale, this one also has some sharp, piney hop notes. This hoppiness is almost, but not quite, the equal of the maltiness. I rather like the amber ale that challenges the taste buds with some hoppiness, so I very much like what I smell from this one.

Yep, this is one hoppy amber. The sweet, malty character one generally notes with amber ales is the first thing noticed when tasting this beer, but it's almost instantly matched by the hoppiness noted above. This is balanced perfectly between the malts and the hops, with the malts remaining dominant enough that you remember that it's a hoppy amber rather than a heavily malty IPA. Good stuff!

The mouthfeel of this a little more oily than I would expect from an amber - must be all that extra hoppy goodness. Medium bodied with the carbonation right where it should be. I've had a lot of amber ales that were too thick and sweet. Thankfully, this isn't one of them.

This beer was a nice surprise, and hopefully it will be on next time I'm in the Tri-Cities and visit Ice Harbor. Tasty hoppy ambers are few and far between. I had walked in with the idea of growlering up on either the IPA or the Pale. This beer changed my mind. They were only allowing on-site consumption due to quantity issues, but the brewer allowed me to get this in growler because, according to the bartender, he'd enjoyed talking with someone enthusiastic about beer!