“Our Bloodshot IPA is brewed with Red Malt & Oats, giving it plenty of rich malt flavour. Balanced out with a big double dry-hop, there’s lots of resinous & piney notes on offer at a surprisingly easy drinking ABV.”

Glassware: IPA.

Appearance: Pours an attractive deep amber with a soft candy red hue. Close to a three finger head caps it off and holds its shape well. Tonnes of blotchy lace is left in its wake.

Aroma: So insanely sweet, sugary and caramelized. All the usual suspects are here in spades – toffee, salted caramel, golden syrup and butterscotch. Truckloads of dark fruit i.e blood orange, ruby grapefruit and overripe watermelon with stewed tropical fruits like papaya and paw paw hanging back a bit. Loving the sharp pine, citrus and herbal hops that slice right through the malts and balance it all out.

Flavour: Probably a little too heavy on the sweet malts in our opinion. Plus they get a little syrupy around the mid palate. There’s still a solid hop presence which counteracts with pine needle, mixed citrus and fresh herbals though. The tropical fruit, dark fruits and papaya/paw paw tails in late and delivers a sweet fruity finish with lingering toffee apple and caramel.

Mouthfeel: Sticky and gelatinous. Mild-moderate Co2, medium body. The 6.5% ABV slots in neatly.

Overall: It’s safe to say we’ve had lots of better red IPA’s. It was a tad too malt-dominant plus the slightly cloying syrupy sweetness wasn’t ideal. Still, the hops did a good job of evening the keel so it’s not all bad. Probably not a return-to beer though.