“Our ‘Velvet M-80’ is a hefty, dry hopped double-red ipa with a nose full of aroma, a sticky mouthfeel, a malty middle and unctuous hop flavors. G’Knight sports a surprisingly sensuous finish for a beer of its size (8.7% ABV, 60 IBUs). It’s brewed in tribute to a fellow Colorado craft beer pioneer and Vietnam vet who died fighting a 2002 wild fire outside of our Lyons hometown.”
Served in an IPA glass. It pours a candy red complexion with a head that swells to about two fingers in height before it slowly retreats and settles to a fine film. She weaves a healthy lace pattern as it ebbs. The aroma has that suped-up fruit cocktail note to it. Lashings of mango, rock melon, papaya and pineapple burst out with the blessing of an 8.7% ABV. Like any respectable red IPA the big malt presence provides sticky, chewy caramel and toffee spiked with a somewhat heady resinous pine character. Undertones of aniseed, caramelized sugars and flambèd oranges add another level of complexity to this already fine aroma. The mouth feel is somewhat gelatinous, intensified by the 8.7% ABV which adds a discernible heat upfront and in the finish. A conservative 60 IBU count is further quelled by the overall velvety texture of the beer. Very tropical, very sweet and sticky on the front palate. Again the booze cuts through like a hot knife through butter and brings suggestions of pine and a subtle woody spice along with it. Some bitterness in the middle lays a platform for a dry, at times sweet and fruity finish with decent length on the back end. That’s a pretty damn fine red IPA right there. It’s packed full of booze-soaked tropical fruits, caramelized malts, pine and subtle spice. Similar to the Gubna it drinks at a much lower ABV level (although no where near as classy) as well. Decent offering