Hop Hydrant Red IPA has a dubious distinction. With all due respect to Raleigh, North Carolina's Gizmo BrewWorks, the 1 pint 6 ounce bottles of their brew might just have the ugliest label I've ever seen. The label features a sad looking and crudely drawn dalmatian in a firefighter's hat (that looks more like a ball cap) getting inexplicably pummeled by a stream of hops spewing from a fire hydrant. Weird. Fortunately, the 6.3%, 68 IBU ale within was tasty enough to make up for the packaging (I'm sorry to the designers--it's just my opinion and I recognize that I couldn't do any better).
Copper coloured and hazy,
the actual beer was a beaut, beneath a lush cream head. It had a nose
that was initially robustly malty and tinged with caramel, but which was
soon swallowed up by an evergreen hops presence. The flavour had
something of roasted malt about it, too, which was nicely balanced
against a sticky, bitter finish.
Once I got
past the label, Hop Hydrant proved to be a delightful ale. It was a tad
sweet, but not by much. All told, a beer approaching excellent.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10.
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