Radicle Red IPA

 

This beer lived in my fridge for a bit too long, but it still tasted great! Radicle Red IPA is the July 2021 "Ides of ..." entry from Toronto’s Henderson Brewing Company. It’s a 6.5% ale that comes in 473mL cans. The beer is dark bronze in colour and pours under a creamy head.

Radicle Red has an assertive pine and caramel aroma, with a slight metallic tinkle. The flavour matches from malty to bitter—it kicks off with coppery grains and drifts into a hearty evergreen bitterness.

This brew tasted bigger than its 6.5% due to its dank, piney bitterness. It’s an enjoyable, brassy beer—one I liked quite a lot.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Dmitrij Fong Red IPA

 From Toronto’s Great Lakes Brewery, in collaboration with Hungry Brew Hops Public House & Eatery in Newmarket, Ontario, comes Dmitrij Fong Red IPA. The beer is sold in 473mL cans and it’s brewed with oats and wheat. It’s an entry in GLB’s 7 Barrel Series and it clocks in at a burly 7%.

Dmitrij Fong is a swampy, copper grog with a sudsy cream head. There is a bready, malty, and metallic aromatic profile. The flavour moves sweet to bitter, and incorporates toast, a bit of iron, and some floral hops.

This is a pretty well-executed red IPA, which, to me, is a grand and under-represented style. With good strength and balanced flavour, Dmitrij Fong is a beer I’d eagerly revisit from a brewery that consistently kicks my butt.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Vhamina Z Red IPA

My second foray into the offerings of Duque Brewpub in Lisbon was their Vhamina Z Red IPA. A slightly hazy amber ale turned up at my table, under a cloud of tan head.

A 5.6% red IPA, the beer had a bright, floral hops aroma, accented with coppery notes. The flavour veered rapidly from a sweet, malty overture to a robust, piney crescendo.

I’ve had better red IPAs, but on a hot late afternoon after a day of pounding the pavement of a hilly city, this stuff hit the spot in a very real way. It was quite flavourful and didn’t skimp on either the red ale or IPA potions of the equation. Very much an American-style red IPA, this stuff had flavour to spare.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

150 Red IP-eh

I have to assume that Think Brewing Co.’s 150 Red IP-eh is brewed in honour of Canada’s sesquicentennial. However, there is no further indication one way or another on the 500mL bottle. So, out of an abundance of caution, I’m opting to take Think up on their eponymous suggestion and ruminate on Canada’s (albeit belated) 150th birthday—while drinking this 6% alcohol red IPA from Harvey, NB, I was Think-ing about Canada, both as a land of opportunity and beauty, and as a country with a significant social, racial, and economic baggage, where entire communities struggle needlessly without clean water. Also, I’m Think-ing about the fact that, according to the label, with the purchase of this ale, Think provides “1% to food programs”, so that’s cool. All told, positive and productive thoughts were Thunk.

As for the beer, 150 Red is a rusty, swampy ale that pours with a thick and persistent cream head. Its aroma is coppery and fairly bitter, with suggestions of sweetness. The flavor is metallic, with classic red ale caramel notes sitting in front of a fairly prominent woodsy hops finish.

As red IPAs go, I tend to like them more bitter and less sweet, but this one has some chops even though it comes from the other side of the line. A few more IBUs wouldn’t have hurt, but I’ll live.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Dawn of the Red

From Eugene, Oregon, Dawn of the Red is a Red IPA with a really cool aesthetic. The 12 oz bottles of the 7% brew feature a zombie motif on the label. The beer is made by Ninkasi Brewing Company. It has a slight reddish hue that runs through an otherwise golden body and it pours with a creamy off-white head.

 

DotR has a considerably bitter aroma that features a very pleasing tangerine note. Citrus elements permeate the flavour as well, with quality West Coast bitterness well represented.

A very nice ale from a reliable brewery in one of the craft beering-est states in the Union, DotR seemed like a can't miss brew when I put it in the cart, and that prediction proved accurate.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Hop Hydrant Red IPA

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.

Rickard's Red IPA

As I'm sure I have mentioned before, one of my favourite traditions involves the purchase of beer for the folks that help you move. One of my dearest friends needed help moving a sofa, and while I did it because I love him and would do anything for him, I also expected ale in recompense. My pal lived up to his end of the bargain in spades, and one of the brews I received as part of the exchange was one I'd not yet reviewed: Rickard's Red IPA.

Rickard's is a craft beer label belonging to macro brewing giant Molson Coors. Its Red IPA is a 5.7% alcohol grog sold in 473mL cans. It's a pleasant looking tawny red ale that pours clear, with a blanket of eggshell head. 

Brewed in a variety of cities across Canada, the Red IPA had an evergreen hops nose, backed by caramel malts. Its flavour was coppery, initially, with roasted malt notes. Behind that came a wellspring of hops of the woodland variety.

Rickard's has long been a beer that I consume in the absence of something more palatable and locally-brewed. Specifically, their Red Ale is an agreeably forgettable potion that inhabits sports bars and chain restaurants, serving their role when there are no micro alternatives available. True to form, but slightly more interesting, Rickard's Red IPA is is a relatively low octane version of a red India that could do in a pinch. It should be said that this ale is head and shoulders above Rickard's' other offerings, but also a weaker brew than the average craft red I. For a macro brew, this stuff is solid and enjoyable, but compared with the unrestrained hops blast and heady percentage of a micro take on the style, it doesn't fare as well. However, if faced with this stuff in a sports bar with a limited selection and where I intended to watch a big game, I'd select it without a second thought.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Hop Continuum No. 2 Mosaic Red IPA

DuClaw Brewing Co.'s Hop Continuum No. 2 Mosaic Red IPA is a very pretty beer from Baltimore, Maryland. It's a cloudy, ruddy brew--rusty and covered with a fog of creamy head. It came in a 12oz bottle and contains 6% alcohol. It packed a pungent aroma: floral, hoppy, and slightly coppery. The flavour walked the same line, with initial earthy maltiness, metallic and floral notes, and a classy hops finish.

Hop Continuum Two is a fine red IPA. A bit more ballast would help out, but this stuff doesn't need much assistance.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

G'Night Imperial Red IPA

G'Night Imperial Red IPA comes from the Oskar Blues Brewery in Brevard, North Carolina. I had a 16oz can of the stuff, which weighs in at a dastardly 8.7% alcohol. It was a clear, amber brew crowned with a solid ivory head.

There was a strong waft of hoppy, hempy aromas. This pungent brew trod the line between boozy sweetness and heavy bitterness. There was quite a bit more going on on the malt side of the spectrum than I expected. There were notes of raisin, hemp, toffee, and pine.

This full-flavoured beer packed quite a boozy wallop. It was sweeter that I'd have guessed, but definitely interesting.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.

Dinner Jacket O'Red IPA

Dinner Jacket O'Red IPA is a dapper, well-dressed ale brewed by Arch Brewing Co., out of Guelph, Ontario. It's sold in 473mL cans, weighs in at 6.3% alcohol, and contains a stalwart 60 IBUs. The can raves about the virtues of a dinner jacket--an opinion that I wholly endorse.

It's a snazzy coppor-coloured brew. It's clear and pours with a loose, off-white head. Dinner Jacket has a tangy, hop-driven aroma; one that has a slightly metallic bent and a malty backbone. There is some malt focus early on, with some brown sugar notes. However, the real story behind this beer is its fulsome hop profile. This red India pale is strikingly dry and bitter. There are some evergreen notes and a nice understated blast of citrus rind.

If I had my way, Dinner Jacket would have a wee bit less sweetness at the front end, but the finish is just right. I really enjoyed the stuff, and I'll be sure to revisit it, as well as to keep an eye out for more offerings from Arch.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.