Red Flash Red IPA

Draft. Copper beer with a cream head. Grapefruit and pine aroma. Light grapefruit and light pine flavor with light cocoa. Medium bodied. Decent bitterness. Light grapefruit and light pine lingers with light cocoa.

Pours lightly hazy reddish amber, small off-white head that has good staying power and leaves nice lacing. Aroma is quite malty with caramel and dark bread malts, some pine resin. Flavor is quite sweet, light plus bitter, pine and caramel are the dominant characteristics here. More like an American strong ale IMO, but what do I know. Lingering bitterness. Fullish body and creamy mouthfeel. Tastes like much higher ABV than the 6.0 on the board.

Poured up on tap at the brewpub where it exhibits a clear amber colored body that supports a tiny near white head. The aroma offers up molasses sweetness, black licorice, a bit of cherry esters, a dash of nuttiness and then faint sweet citrus. The taste starts rather sweet with malts and esters that are sweet cranberry candy, a touch of raspberry and then a bit of cherry too. At this point this seems far from an IPA but to midway the hops descend straight into the sweetness that has morphed into a molasses kind of black licorice sensation, with some spicy bitterness and anise like hoppiness. Interesting. Bitter meets spicy molasses sweetness.