Rating:

“IRA is heading out of the brewery this week in Rare Breed format. We’ve used some specialty kilned malts to throw a red hue and produce some great caramel / toffee aromas and flavours. No less than five hop varieties including Cascade, Amarillo and Ahtanum. 6.6% ABV, 60 BU’s.”

We’ve recently tried 8 wired’s version of the IRA and scored it a 10/10. We put Mountain Goat on the same shelf as 8 wired so this should be a great test to see who reigns supreme. Served in an IPA glass the deep ruby red pour produced a one and a half finger head of off-white foam that retains well. Thick spotted lacing is being strewn all the way down the glass. The aroma boasts an excellent balance of caramel malts and stone fruits. Plenty of depth in the nose here. Additions of either raspberry or strawberry, tangerine, subtle grapefruit and some subdued peppery spice add brilliant character to this aroma. Medium carbonation in the mouth with a vibrant bitterness (60 IBU), full bodied along with a slightly effervescent texture. An assertive hop bitterness initially teams up with grapefruit and orange peel which leads to a rich, malty mid-palate along with hints of caramel, jaffa and toffee. Again, bitter notes of grapefruit carry forward and is rounded off by a firm bitter finish with lengthy duration. The 6.4% ABV is spot on. This is a brilliant IRA, not a lot of difference here but we feel the 8 wired just pips it at the post. Huge recommendation from us though, top shelf stuff.

Rating:

“This is an ale that is not afraid of standing tall among other great beers. The intense, sharp and fruity hoppiness is backed by its complex, caramel-like malty structure. Big, yet refreshing. Bold but balanced. This beer has been designed to have it all, to be the greatest common denominator”.

8 Wired Brewing….personally our no.1 Kiwi brewery. This hopped up red ale we poured into a shaker glass. The appearance displays a deep ruby red with a solid two and a half fingers of off white head that retained and releases blotchy lace trails down the walls of the glass. The aroma is pitch perfect with loads of malty driven goodness. Within the aroma a battle between the bitter hops and the smooth caramel malt creates a plethora of gorgeous fragrances. Grapefruit, marmalade, resins, pepper, nuts, caramel and Jaffa are just a few we’re picking up. Absolutely brilliant aroma. Can’t fault it. Mild-medium carbonation with a dry mouth feel. Mirroring the aroma, the palate is alive and vibrant. Initially the big, bitter notes of grapefruit are nicely balanced out by a slightly roasted hint of caramel and malt. Again the roasted characters come out in the mid-palate accompanied by a sharp peppery spice. Smooth malty finish with hints of caramel and nuts round off an impressive palate. Great length. 7% ABV is evident but not enough to note in flavour. Again, impressive. Big ups to Søren for this one. Truly outstanding brew.

Rating:

“Australia holds a special place in our hearts here at Karl Strauss Brewing Company. After all, while on a trip through Australia it was the Sail & Anchor Hotel that provided the inspiration to start a brewery in San Diego. (…) Medium body with well balanced malt and hop characteristics. Pours a bright red hue in the glass, with lingering hoppy, grapefruit and tangerine aromas”.

USA meets Australia in this red ale collaboration. Poured into a shaker glass the appearance displays a ruby red with a white, bubbly two finger head which collapsed quickly to a collar. Laced poorly. Slightly roasted characters are coming through on the nose. Caramel, toffee, toast and orange peel stand out the strongest. All these on the back of a roasted malt sweetness to balance. The only downside is it has a subtle metallic waft at the end which doesn’t really work. Medium carbonation with a dry mouth feel. Medium body. Initially we picked up bitter citrus I.e grapefruit and orange peel. The mid-palate continues on with earthy hints of caramel and malt with a dry, bitter finish. Good length. 6% ABV is spot on and is nicely hidden. To be honest it has the potential to be a really good red ale but its just missing something. Take nothing away from it though, a decent enough offering from this American/Australian collaboration.

Rating:

“ABV ain’t all that: Boneyard Red Ale is a session beer that you can drink all day, all night, and all day again (and all night and all day and so on and so forth, forever). It’s food friendly, sensibly sessionable and surprisingly full flavoured. Liberal use of specialty malts evocative of bread crusts, your granny’s Anzac bickies and toasted hazelnut join with bucketloads of new world hops for fruitiness and balanced bitterness to form the true craft beer drinker’s mid-strength. Get on it; stay on it”.

This is our first crack at this relatively new breweries range. Hailing from North Melbourne, Victoria this little team boasts some handy skills. A couple of restaurateurs, a culinary king and a brewing genius. With a posse like that, how can you go wrong? Poured into a shaker glass the appearance displays a deep ruby red with a beige 2 finger crown. Good head retention, releasing some nice patterns of lace down the walls of the glass. The aroma is quite jammy with sweet additions of raspberry, apricot, caramel, brioche and subtle chocolate. Absolutely gorgeous, we just can’t get enough of it. Medium carbonation with a silky soft mouth feel. Medium-full body. To be honest we weren’t expecting a gob full of flavour as this is only a light mid strength (2.9% ABV) but we were dead wrong. The palate boasts distinct full bodied flavours of chewy caramel, toast and dark fruits. Good length, again it is a surprise considering the low ABV. Delicious lingering hints of berries and toffee round off a surprisingly tasty mid-strength ale. Most mid strengths lack body and mouth feel but this is an exception. Great start to this breweries range.

Rating:

“Our aggressive Imperial Red Ale is a massive mix of smooth malts and West Coast hops that have no patience for the lupulin leery. This crimson beer starts with caramel-like malt flavor that can’t suppress the assertive, citrusy hop finale”.

This brilliant American brewery just keeps them coming. Served in a shaker glass, the ruby red pour whips up this one and a half finger beige head that swells but but recoils and eventually settles to thin blotchy layer over the top. Laced reasonably well. the aroma is simply brilliant, firmly malt driven with a big resinous hop presence. Pine resins, nuts, treacle, grapefruit and red berries form a gorgeous base of fragrances. In the mouth it feels smooth and well rounded with mild-medium carbonation. Medium-full bodied. The flavour offers up some slightly roasted features initially. A viscous hint of treacle comes forward with an aggressive hop bitterness to balance it out. Malt, caramel and nuts in the mid are slowly enveloped by a big bitter finish with notes of grapefruit and pine resins that draw out well on to the back end, displaying really good length. A dry hoppy bitterness lingers on the palate nicely. At 8.5% ABV the slight alcohol burn adds to the body and is quite well hidden. Just a class brew this one. Up there with the Bridgeport ‘Kingpin’.

Rating:

“When the Fat Cat was brewed I was looking for a distinctive hop that might play against the caramel-like malt profile. Nelson Sauvin was one of the only types of hops at the time that was available fresh from the 2008 harvest. The choice was not difficult as in 2006 at the Helsinki Beer Festival I tasted a beer made only with this hop. The malt used is a mixture of British Maris Otter and German münchenermalt along with caramel malt, husked chocolate malt and raw barley from rich New Zealand soil.”

This brewery would have to be in the top 5 best Danish breweries. Served in a shaker glass the murky amber pour boasts gorgeous copper hues. Atop sits a 1 inch beige head with good retention which allows spotted lacing to be strewn all the way down the glass. Aroma is dominated by resinous hops and pine with a refreshing herbal character also coming through. Sweet undertones of peach, forest berries, candy and toffee add depth to an already magnificent nose. In the mouth it feels smooth with medium body. Medium carbonation and an assertive bitterness marry up well with the slightly earthy fore-flavour. Pine, berries, grapefruit and subtle hints of caramel are all driven on a caramel malty backbone that essentially produces a highly palatable red ale. 4.7% ABV is a tad low, we thought a slightly higher volume would have really benefited but that aside it’s a good offering.

Rating:

This beer pours the typical red almost mahogany like colour with a lasting creamy head. Aroma is malty with caramel,grass and pine notes. Hops dominate the fore flavour which is obviously from the dry hopping but not too bitter with hints of orange,pine and toffee. At 5.2% it’s a good sipping beer,plenty of flavours to pick up. Good but not great

Rating:

“Red Rocks is a rich ruby red ale with loads of chewy malt character. There wasn’t a lot of restraint shown in the hopping of this beer. We had a fair bit of whole cone Nelson Sauvin hops in the fridge and they all went in. The end result is a nice balance of malt sweetness and bitterness, with some assertive hop aroma and flavour.  Red Rocks Reserve is fast becoming one of our most anticipated annual releases. A base red ale is brewed and then with a nod to an ancient brewing technique known as ‘Stein Bier’, the beer is passed through a giant hop back containing rocks, super heated in a hard Manuka wood fire to over 500c. Finally, the beer is given an additional pass through a hop back stuffed full of whole cone Nelson Sauvin”.

A decent couple of Kiwi gypsy micro-brewers here that brew out of the kegs of the better-known Tuatara brewery. Served in a shaker glass the copper red pour produced a fingers worth of beige head that retains and laces well. The aroma offers a really refreshing marriage of vinous hops, zesty citrus, nuts, caramel, pine resins and biscuit malts. In the mouth it’s quite light on and has a smooth caramelized feel to it. Upfront the flavour consists of sweet malts and toffee that slowly develop into a slightly assertive hoppy mid-palate that’s delivering a pleasant dryness that accentuates the 7% ABV on the tongue. The finish mellows into a sweet and sugary, almost herbal finish with lingering nutty notes on the back end. Essentially a very well balanced beer that we would definitely recommend to any craft beer enthusiast. Big ups to the boys across the ditch.

Rating:

“Feared by some, cheered by many.” These are the few words printed on to this stylish label. As we have tried this beer many times before, we can honestly say this beer lives up to it’s modest name. The kingpin is dead right as there is no better double red ale on the market. Is it any wonder they took out the silver medal in the 2011 Australian international beer awards? Anyway we’ll stop blowing their horn and get on with the review.

We served in a shaker glass. This extremely alluring deep ruby red appearance knocks up a short off-white cap that peels off to a collar with a very fine covering on top. Laced quite well despite the diminishing head. Now, on to this gorgeous aroma that gets us every time. A good dose of triple-hopping and the use of spicy rye malts give off a deceiving IPA-like aroma with citrus-driven fruits being detected initially. Once that mellows the sweeter, nutty malts come forward bringing with them a good balance of caramel, honeysuckle, toffee and minerals. Solid stuff. In the mouth it’s silky smooth with an oily texture. Carbonation levels are low and the body is about medium. The flavour profile is a little slow out of the gates but develops a nice, malty sweet character that builds with a mild alcohol warmth (7.5%) an assertive hop bitterness early in the mid. Hints of toffee, bready malts and rye spice carry forward and deliver a dry, bitter finish with some faint citrus notes on the back end. Good duration. Yep, just as we remember it, full flavoured and surprisingly sessional. Damn fine brew this, kudos to the brewers. We love it!!

Rating:

“A medium to full bodied Irish Style Ale beer with a light reddish hue. A malt accented beer which starts with initial malt sweetness and finishes with a dryness from the addition of small quantities of roasted barley.  Kent Golding hops provide the low hop bitterness and aroma which in keeping with this style.  An easy drinking smooth beer.(5.0%)”

A very elegant beer from the classy otway estate in Victoria. Served in a beer tulip, the copper pour constructs a 1 inch beige head that eventually settles to a thick halo with thin patchy foam on top. OK lacing. Very British on the nose, with sweet and sticky overtones from the use of Kent Golding hops. Very malt-forward and quite earthy with generous wafts of toffee, fudge, toast, nuts, tart berries and sweet malts, lending this Irish-style red ale plenty of character. The mouth feel is very smooth, flirting with being thin but saved by a boldish body. Mild-medium carbonation. The tongue is initially met with rich sweetness, tart berries and toffee malts which carry on through the mid-palate and deliver a nutty, toasty finish. Good length. The 5% ABV is spot on, enough to hold up the body of this beer but not enough to smell or taste it. Essentially this is a really nice beer from a very little known brewery.