Stone Pataskala Red X IPA

The Stats
Style: American Amber, Red Ale
ABV: 7.3%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.12/5
- RateBeer: 3.83/5 (mean)

"Pat-ASK-ala? Pata-SKALA? Pa-TASK-a-la? While those in the know favor the third pronunciation, no matter how you say it, this is a unique red IPA. The beer was first brewed in September 2015 to support music and arts education programs in Pataskala, Ohio, where Stone co-founder Greg Koch grew up. People there loved it, so we added the beer to our seasonal lineup. The deep crimson hue is courtesy of a fairly new special German malt variety by BESTMALZ called Red X. Dry-hopped with Mosaic, Cascade and Amarillo hops, this beer is incredibly citrus-forward, rounded out with biscuit and toffee notes. We think you’ll find this red IPA to be quite deliciously satisfying, no matter how you choose to pronounce it."

Pours a clear, gorgeous, dark ruby red with three fingers of a fluffy, eggshell, almost yellowish head.

The aroma has an interesting mix of grassy hops and toast or even Cheerios.

West Coast garlic and onion hops hit you up front first followed by a sweet caramel and toffee combination which levels out the hop intensity. As it heads towards the back, the malts come forward with almost a multi-grain bread or burnt toast flavor. It's almost like the aforementioned Cheerios taste, but it's soggy cereal: still good, but wet and grainy. As it warms a nice kick of pine and spruce add complexity. The aftertaste has no unpleasant lingering flavors, but it might be a tad too clean.

Mouthfeel is medium with less carbonation than I expected, but not flat. It's dry on the finish, but not a dessert in your mouth and has no alcohol presence.

The Red Ale isn't know for many (if any) examples that are considered world class load blowers, and Pataskala is no exception. That's not a knock against Stone, it's a criticism of the style itself. Still, this does have a bit more complexity than other examples as the hops weren't drowned out by the malts and the burnt toast added some light roast to a sweet caramel tone. At the end of the day, it's a slightly better Red Ale than most.

Rating
7.7/10

Revolution Brewing Red Skull

The Stats
Style: American Amber/Red Ale
ABV: 8.3%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.06/5
- RateBeer: 3.63/5

As I said in my prior review of Mosaic-Hero IPA, Revolution Brewing out of Chicago is here in Massachusetts in full force. I spotted today's beer at only one store, so I had to snatch it up. It's an Imperial Red Ale brewed with Cascade hops and then dry-hopped with Citra.

A beautiful dark, ruby red on the pour that was mostly transparent except for some chill haze. I got about a finger of eggshell/yellowish head.

Sweet malts and subtle citrus on the aroma with just a tinge of pine.

Some nice dank hop bitterness greets me first which is nice since it was absent from the aroma. The malt presence is big and bold, but it doesn't distract from the fresh hop taste. In fact, the malts lend an underlying caramel flavor that makes this sweet until the pine and spruce show up. It sounds crazy, but the pine with the fresh hop taste kind of makes me think of walking through a row of wet Christmas trees. That combined with the sweet, sugary flavors gives off just the faintest bit of maple syrup. The finish comes back to some resinous pine sap and a tiny bit of juicy hops.

Mouthfeel is full-bodied with good carbonation. No alcohol taste or warming at all. It finish a little dry, but overall smooth.

Red Skull is a great example of the Red Ale. While a bigger hop juice presence would have been welcome, this still has a full flavor palette chock-full of enough pine, citrus, and sweet malts to satisfy any lover of the style.

Rating
8.5/10

Clown Shoes Rexx

The Stats
Style: American Amber/Red Ale
ABV: 12.0%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.15/5
- Ratebeer: 3.7/5

In the past year or so, I think Clown Shoes has been dialed in when it comes to these massive barrel-aged beers. Years ago I thought most of them were too hot out of the gate and required some aging, but today, I think they are ready to go fresh off the line. I've stuck mainly to their imperial stouts, but now I'm diving into an interesting offering. Rexx is an imperial red ale aged in bourbon barrels. I've never had a BA red ale, so hopefully getting my cherry popped with this experience is memorable.

Pours an insanely murky dark red transitioning into a muddy brown. It had less than a finger of a dark egg shell or even yellowish head.

The aroma shares the same characteristics with a lot of great English Barleywines, particularly of toffee and caramel. The bourbon is right there in your face and there's just a sprinkle of pine.

A bigger malt presence is definitely noticeable on the first swig as is the obvious fact that everything from the aroma, while here and accounted for, is toned down several notches. I don't know what it is about the bourbon plus the red ale, but dark fruits, figs, and raisins are prominent and even dominating. The base red ale is here with notes of pine and some bitter hops. There's somewhat of a molasses flavor to this and it is actually reminding me of a well-made English Old Ale. The sweetness of the bourbon helps even out some of the more malty aspects and some nice oak lends even more barrel character to this.

Mouthfeel for a big 12% beer feels a little thin. I don't think it makes great use of its weight, but it is not what I'd call watery. As I mentioned earlier, Clown Shoes barrel-aged beers no longer seem to burn with alcohol when they are fresh and this is proof positive of that fact as this has no alcohol taste and no heat or warming for such a big beer.

Rexx retained the base Red Ale, but added several barrel characters. Oddly enough, it seemed like the finished product produced a completely different style whether it was Barleywine or Old Ale. In any case, there were flavor profiles pulled in from multiple styles with a big bourbon and oak kick which made this a complex brew. A thin mouthfeel held it back from reaching a higher level, but this is still another solid entry  for Clown Shoes barrel-aged beers.

Rating
8.5/10

Founders Redankulous

The Stats
Style: Imperial IPA/American Amber
ABV: 9.50%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.20/5
- RateBeer: 3.87/5

The infamous Backstage Series by Founders has produced some mighty fine beers. I've reviewed a couple of them myself, and have had others away from this blog. To me, the series ebbs and flows as you will either get an amazing beer, or a dud with nothing that falls in between. Redankulous is a massive 9.50% Red IPA made with Chinook, Mosaic, ans Simcoe hops.

Pours a beautiful, glowing copper/amber. Mostly transparent with a slight chill haze. Got over two fingers of an off-white, eggshell head.

Aroma has sweet malts and some pine, but otherwise it's pretty bland.

If anything, this beer is "Readankulous" in regards to the malts and not the hops. The biggest flavors I pick up are some caramel and something similar to a syrupy cherry (almost NyQuil-esque). Definitely the theme here is sweet malts and heavy resin, but really no hops. It's a 9.50% beer called "Redankulous" and the hop presence is practically non-existent. If I concentrate hard enough, maybe I can pick up some earthy dankness, but is so far in the background that it's barely worth mentioning. Some underlying pine and spruce is also there as well.

Now, even though the hops are absent and this has an abundance of sweet, caramel malts, I will say that the flavors I am getting are pleasant and go down easy. I was surprised this was almost 10% abv as it drinks much easier than that. It goes down more like a standard amber ale rather than an imperial, but the feel is still full-bodied for the style with absolutely no alcohol taste.

I am severely disappointed with the outcome of Redankulous. When a red (amber) ale is done right, the malts and hops should be in equal balance with a proportionate share of bitter hops and sweetness. Instead, this opted for all sweet malts and barely, BARELY any hop flavor. While the beer was still drinkable and enjoyable for what little flavor was there, this one really just struck out looking.

Rating
6.8/10

Trillium Deciduous

The Stats
Style: Imperial IPA/American Amber/Red Ale
ABV: 8.0%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 3.96/5
- RateBeer: 3.73/5

Described as a "Red IPA", Deciduous appears to be a combination of IPA and Red Ale. Usually trying to combine two styles into a new breed of IPA doesn't yield mind-blowing results, but if Trillium is doing it, then we have hope.

Pours a murky, red/brownish/burgundy with two fingers of white head.

A lot of malt on the nose. Very nice bitter hop presence with maybe a faint resin and a tiny bit of of a raisin or dark cherry.

The taste is pretty much small amounts of resin with some pine. Hops are hidden far in the distance. It has a touch of a honey sweetness, but not sugary or overpowering. The malts are more prominent than the hops, but that's not to say this a malt bomb. No one taste really stands out and it can be pretty bland.

While the flavors don't wow you on the taste, the beer itself isn't watered down. It has a medium feel with ok carbonation.

As I said before, these hybrid styles can be disappointing and Trillium Deciduous is no exception. It's not a bad beer or hard to drink by any means, but the flavors don't pop on the nose or palate. Given the two styles they were trying to incorporate, I wish there was more of a hop presence with some stronger pine and caramel.

Rating
7.3/10