Review: Red Elephant IRA from Laurelwood Brewing
Editor’s Note: Today is day seven in our Twelve Days of Christmas series on Pints and Steins – where we’ll be letting you know about a winter beer every day between now and Christmas Eve.
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, Red Elephant IRA from Laurelwood Brewing!
Red Elephant IPA is a hybrid between a red ale and an IPA. In this case, Red Elephant uses the malts from Laurelwood’s popular Free Range Red and the hops from Green Elephant IPA to produce a hop-forward beer that has a nice malty backbone.
Red Elephant is 7.0% ABV and 70 IBUs. The hops comprise of Nugget, Amarillo, Centennial, Citra and Ahtanum.
How does it taste?
Red Elephant pours a hazy reddish-brown colour and has a head about an inch high. To your nose, you’ll pick up on floral and piney hops. This beer doesn’t smell very malty but is more aromatic of an IPA.
When you taste Red Elephant IRA, you pick up on the caramel malts shortly followed by citrusy and piney hops and grapefruit-like citrusy smells. This beer is a well-hopped red ale. I thoroughly enjoyed this ale and would easily order it again in the Laurelwood Brewpub on NE Sandy in Portland, where I had it last night.
Should I buy it?
You’ll find Red Elephant IRA in 6-packs or on draft at the Laurelwood brewpubs and where good beer is sold in Oregon.
Tags: Laurelwood Brewing, Red Elephant IRA, Twelve Beers of Christmas 2016