Pipeworks Brief Relief Blood Orange Red Ale

Brewed By: Pipeworks Brewing in Chicago, IL  

Purchased: 22oz bottle (Batch #426/427) bought at Binny's in IL; 2014 (bottled 06.12.2014)

Style/ABV: American Amber / Red Ale, 9.0%
Reported IBUs: ?

Tonight's Unofficial Pipeworks Thursday™ requires a little more explaining than usual, I think. Pipeworks has quite the lineup of weirdly named beers, but nothing tops tonight's beer and its bottle art. This "collaboration" with Harebrained Design was brewed for the Period Panties Launch Party. What are Period Panties? "Fun underwear that high-fives you for having ovaries and serves as a friendly reminder to others!" You can read more about the launch on Reddit's ChicagoBeer thread regarding the subject. About Pipeworks:

Pipeworks has humble roots. The brewery was founded in Chicago in 2011 by Beejay Oslon and Gerrit Lewis. The duo were both homebrewers that met while while working at West Lakeview Liquors. In 2011, they began to raise money for their brewery using the online Internet site, Kickstarter. Olson and Lewis were both educated at De Struise Brewery in Oostvleteren, Belgium. With that knowledge, and the money from their kickstarter, Olson and Lewis created a unique brewery that is smaller in size, and intended to brew smaller batches of beer. The company's motto is "small batches, big beers." And indeed, since the brewery has been around, they've been releasing a lot of one-offs and small batch releases. The goal is to release a new beer every week. You can read more about the brewery at their website HERE.

The back of the bottle of Brief Relief reads:

"What's better than not wearing pants? Not wearing pants while enjoying a beer! So as a nod to drinking pants-less and to celebrate the insane success of period Panties by Chicago's Harebrained Design, we present to you BRIEF RELIEF.

Brief Relief is a Blood Orange Red Ale, filled with citrusy hops, designed to give some much-needed brief relief from whatever is currently cramping your style. Much like Period Panties, this beer gives ovary owners a well-deserved high five!

Check out Period Panties: www.harebraineddesign.com"

Pipeworks Brief Relief 

I had something for this...I'm drawing a blank. Anyway, this beer pours into a dark, blood-orange caramel color, kicking up two to three fingers of caramel-tinted head. This looks like an Imperial Red or an Imperial IPA, with sheets of lacing coating the glass and sticky head retention. When held to a bright light, this beer takes on a murky blood-orange color, with tiny dots of carbonation working their way up the glass. It doesn't remind me of periods or liberating underwear, but beer is the solution to all problems.

The aroma here is moderately assertive. Right up front I'm getting big hop notes, maybe Citra or Simcoe? I dunno, it's hard to say. There's big citrus on the nose, grapefruit, and dank tobacco/hemp that veers into dank citrus notes. Along with the hops is assertive citrus sweetness, including orange and grapefruit. There is also some bready and rye spice on the aroma, with big suggestive malts lurking in the back.

Aye, this is another banger from Pipeworks, and one of their better Imperial Red Ale-style brews. This is just a fun beer...and I say that in a nice way. I'm getting a lot of citrus sweetness in here, with splashes of citrus juice, sweet blood orange, sweet grapefruit juice, mimosas, grapefruit soda, and big citrus hops underpinning the whole thing. The hops are slightly dank, with big orange and grapefruit. There's some piney bitterness to play contrast to the sweeter citrus juice. Behind it all are some bready malts, with some rye spice and bread providing a nice backbone. This finishes with bread and caramel. Nice.

This is medium-bodied, well-carbonated, and juicy. I'm not getting any of the 9.0% ABV, and this is very drinkable. This reminds me a bit of something from the Lagunitas wheelhouse, only with that blood orange Pipeworks' twist. I really like this...and while it isn't the most complex or bold Imperial Red, it's really well made. Palate depth is on spot. Up front: sweet citrus juice, blood orange, grapefruit soda; the mids roll into the hops, with dank citrus, hemp, tobacco, and some bitter pine/guava towards the back; the back end trails off with hops and citrus and then drops some massive bread, caramel, and rye spice on your mouth. The finish is malty with lingering citrus...slight warming. Noice. 

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. This is one of the better attempts at an Imperial Red from Pipeworks. Actually...this might be their best attempt at the style. This is just an insanely drinkable and fun beer, with tons of sweet citrus popping, and nice balance from the hops and malts. This beer actually feels intentionally cohesive and thoughtful. It's just good. If you see this one on shelves or in the fridge, grab it now while it is still fresh. Food pairings here? It's hard to say, with this style. The sweet malt notes and rye notes seem like they would pair well with a pastrami sandwich on rye, deli food (anything from a Polish or Jewish deli), and maybe even German or Swedish cuisine. I'm thinking sausage and sauerkraut, or maybe some Swedish Meatballs. This beer maybe isn't hoppy enough to pair with overly spicy American food...but it might also work with sweet barbecue sauce, and maybe some sweet pork tacos. So yeah, you have a wide potential in terms of food pairings here. Slaw and BBQ? Yes.

Random Thought: I have to admit, the Period Panties are pretty awesome. And it seems like they have lots of support. Beer + Period Panties = good times. Although I don't menstruate, I can raise a glass and say "cheers" to that. 

[Cellar Review] Pipeworks Santa vs. Unicorn (American Barleywine Style Ale) (Vintage 2013)

Brewed By: Pipeworks Brewing in Chicago, IL  

Purchased: 22oz bottle (Batch #79) bought at Binny's in IL; 2013 (bottled 01.22.2013)

Style/ABV: Imperial Red Ale/American Barleywine, 10.0%
Reported IBUs: ?

It is hard to believe that it has been over one year since I began reviewing Pipeworks' beers. Back in the January of 2013, I reviewed the Pipeworks Santa vs. Unicorn. I found the beer to be superbly underwhelming. For fun, I thought, "why the hell not, I'll age a bottle."

So I bought another bottle. If you are a keen reader/observer, you'll note that the beer I am reviewing tonight is from the Batch #79 release. The beer I reviewed back in January 2013 was from Batch #64. The two batches were brewed close enough together that I doubt it matters much, plush this shitty blog is far and away from a perfect science. You've been warned.

About Pipeworks:

Pipeworks has humble roots. The brewery was founded in Chicago in 2011 by Beejay Oslon and Gerrit Lewis. The duo were both homebrewers that met while while working at West Lakeview Liquors. In 2011, they began to raise money for their brewery using the online Internet site, Kickstarter. Olson and Lewis were both educated at De Struise Brewery in Oostvleteren, Belgium. With that knowledge, and the money from their kickstarter, Olson and Lewis created a unique brewery that is smaller in size, and intended to brew smaller batches of beer. The company's motto is "small batches, big beers." And indeed, since the brewery has been around, they've been releasing a lot of one-offs and small batch releases. The goal is to release a new beer every week. You can read more about the brewery at their website HERE.

I have some serious reservations about aging Pipeworks' beers, especially their early batches. BUT, to the credit of Pipeworks, the beers I have held on to for extended periods of time did hold up well. Specifically the Raspberry Truffle Abduction, which was a delight half a year later. 

Tonight's beer was brewed for the Winter, but has made several appearances with possible recipe tweaks and slightly different names. A much improved version of this beer was released in July of 2013; the Sam Vs Unicorn found Pipeworks channeling their inner Lagunitas. The Sam Vs Unicorn was a fantastically hoppy, spicy, malty, Imperial Red...the type of shit that I salivate over. I do love my Imperial Reds. Imperial Reds flirt with American Barleywines, but are so much better. I'm really curious to see how this one has held up to age. 

Without further ado. And if you care what is on the back of this bottle, go read my review for Batch #64. The print is identical. 

Pipeworks Santa vs. Unicorn (Vintage 2013)

As I kind of anticipated, this one gushed on the pour. That's what happens when you age a conditioned beer for a year and then open it up on the warmer side of cellar temps. This one pours into an absolutely swampy orange-red-brown haze. This one is practically opaque, with big juicy brown/orange tones in bright light. It's like a Ween album, weirdly appealing and off-putting at the same time. This one also kicked up a finger of caramel-tinted head that is sustaining quite nicely with a centimeter coating. There's some lacing as well.

How about that aroma though! Wow, this thing has improved with age. At least per my previous tasting notes. I'm getting huge cakey malts, pine sap, maple syrup, waffle house, pine, and pine tar. There is some big hop resin lurking beneath, with resinous grapefruit and lemon making an appearance on the nose. There's good sweetness on the aroma, with caramel, brown sugar, and balanced treacle goodness ala a well-crafted, aged, American Barleywine. 

The taste fails to live up to the awesome aroma, but it's a big improvement over the beer that I reviewed back in 2013 and said "meh" to. This one has a nice body, especially for the style. American Barleywines can be quite heavy-handed, but this has lots of carbonation, with a full-bodied thinness, and just a touch of oxidation. The balance here has shifted from hop-forward into deep caramel sugars, but there are still plenty of hops present. I'm getting big pine, pine sap, maple syrup, treacle sweetness, nuttiness, pine nuts, brown sugars, burnt caramel, more burnt caramel, even more burnt caramel...serious up-thumbs for the dark sugars in here, it's almost Belgian-esque and that is fucking awesome. I don't even know how or why, but I like it. There's some resinous and sappy lemon and citrus hanging around in the taste, but this one mostly dials in that pine-maple-caramel trifecta.

To reiterate, this is full-bodied but on the thinner and more drinkable side, especially for the style. I think this beer toes the line of a true American Barleywine, where the Sam Vs Unicorn is more of an Imperial Red. Palate depth here is good, and this one has good duration. Complexity is low to average, or maybe not. I'm not a huge fan of American Barleywines, but I'm digging this. You don't pick up any of the 10%. There's a lotta pine sap, maple syrup, and caramel sugars up front; that rolls into nuttiness, pine nuts, more pine sap, resinous lemon, bitterness, burnt caramel; the back end continues to layer the dark sugars and burnt caramel, and the finish is surprisingly bitter and piney. Picture the Canadian woods: cabins, brown bears, stalking sorority chicks. That's this beer.

Rating: Above-Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average...I'll toss this a bone for just being a fun experiment. This isn't quite as refined or complex as a Sierra Nevada Bigfoot or whatever classic Barleywine comes to your mind, but at the same time it's not really far behind. I found this beer to be really disappointing fresh, but what I have here now is drinking really good. I'd pay $10.99 to age one of these again. Food pairings here: anything with pine nuts, including stuffed mushrooms, risotto, nutty desserts, and maybe even chicken and waffles. 

Random Thought: I don't understand American Barleywines. I have such a love/hate relationship with the style. 

Pipeworks Reaper vs Unicorn Ryewine

Brewed By: Pipeworks Brewing in Chicago, IL  

Purchased: 22oz bottle (Batch #221/222/223) bought at Binny's in IL; 2013 (bottled 10.[7/8/9].13)

Style/ABV: Ryewine/Barleywine, 10.0%
Reported IBUs: ?

In this week's Unofficial Pipeworks Thursday™ we are looking at the Reaper vs. the Unicorn. I'm not sure who to root for this time around, but my hunch is the unicorn. About Pipeworks:

Pipeworks has humble roots. The brewery was founded in Chicago in 2011 by Beejay Oslon and Gerrit Lewis. The duo were both homebrewers that met while while working at West Lakeview Liquors. In 2011, they began to raise money for their brewery using the online Internet site, Kickstarter. Olson and Lewis were both educated at De Struise Brewery in Oostvleteren, Belgium. With that knowledge, and the money from their kickstarter, Olson and Lewis created a unique brewery that is smaller in size, and intended to brew smaller batches of beer. The company's motto is "small batches, big beers." And indeed, since the brewery has been around, they've been releasing a lot of one-offs and small batch releases. The goal is to release a new beer every week. You can read more about the brewery at their website HERE.

The Reaper vs Unicorn is a Ryewine/Barleywine thing. The bottle reads:

"The unicorn may have finally met its match in Death Incarnate. But hold your horned horses, because the unicorn lives to rye another day! What a sickle joke! But, we aren't tricking you, this barleywine is a real treat, with a rich malt skeleton and a more than paranormal amount of hops. If you're going to harvest soul-y one beer this season, don't fear the Reaper..."

Pipeworks Reaper vs Unicorn Ryewine

The beer pours like an Imperial Red Ale, which makes a lot of sense if you've had the Sam vs Unicorn or Santa vs Unicorn. Barleywine? More like an Imperial Red. In lower light, this beer's body is a dark red/muddy brown color, and kicks up two to three fingers of super dense, bready, caramel-amber head. The beer dons a juicy, murky, reddish-orange body in bright light. The head is all caramel/amber, with hints of orange. It's an Imperial Red! There's tons of sticky lacing on this, and some glossy legs.

I'm getting big resinous pine, resinous citrus, and woody resin. There's a lot of rye spice on the aroma as well, with some bready rye, rye bread, and lots of peppery rye. There's some caramel as well. The nose is super hoppy, but it's resinous hops...resinous grapefruit, citrus, and orange.

This reminds me more of the Santa vs Unicorn than the Sam vs Unicorn. For whatever reason, this one doesn't have any assertive carbonation helping things along (which is weird because the beer still has a big, lively head and lacing). The malt is blunted here, and there's a lot of it. You get big rye, caramel, and sweet malt sugars (brown sugar?). There's a lot of rye spice in the mix, and lots of resinous hops. I'm getting resinous/woody pine, citrus, grapefruit rind, and tangerines. There's some peppery-rye-booze on the finish.

The lack of carbonation doesn't hurt the drinkability here, even at 10.0%. But I find myself pining for it a bit. This is a medium-full to full-bodied beer, with lots of sweet malt body and tons of resinous hops. Palate depth is okay, and complexity is also okay. You get lots of sweet, rye-forward malt up front; that rolls into big resinous/woody hops; the back end features peppery spice and some booze. 

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average here. I don't know if this beer was intentionally supposed to feature this little carbonation, or if it didn't attenuate far enough, or the conditioning didn't go right. Who knows. Either way, this isn't a bad libation. You get lots of the Rye and malt sweetness. It drinks like an Imperial Red Ale. I would pair this beer with a burger, wings, or other aggressive American foods. You could pair this with anything spicy as well. This one was okay, the Sam vs Unicorn was much better.

Random Thought: TGIF, bitches! 

Pipeworks Sam vs Unicorn

Brewed By: Pipeworks Brewing in Chicago, IL  

Purchased: 22oz bottle (Batch #161 [or 151???]) bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2013

Style/ABV: Imperial Red Ale, 9.0%
Reported IBUs: ?

Nothing says America like random shelf-grabs. I wasn't planning on buying this beer, as I was never overly smitten with the Santa vs. Unicorn, but you know how these things go. So on this Unofficial Pipeworks Thursday™, we celebrate July 4th, part II. About Pipeworks:

Pipeworks has humble roots. The brewery was founded in Chicago in 2011 by Beejay Oslon and Gerrit Lewis. The duo were both homebrewers that met while while working at West Lakeview Liquors. In 2011, they began to raise money for their brewery using the online Internet site, Kickstarter. Olson and Lewis were both educated at De Struise Brewery in Oostvleteren, Belgium. With that knowledge, and the money from their kickstarter, Olson and Lewis created a unique brewery that is smaller in size, and intended to brew smaller batches of beer. The company's motto is "small batches, big beers." And indeed, since the brewery has been around, they've been releasing a lot of one-offs and small batch releases. At one point - and maybe still - the goal was the release a new beer every week. You can read more about the brewery at their website HERE.

Tonight's beer is a big ol' Imperial Amber/Red Ale. The bottle talks abut American hops, and the ABV is dialed up to 9.0%. I'm expecting malts and hops in the Laguintas ballpark. I can dream, right? The back of the bottle states:

"When the weather warms and minds turn to summer's delights, true Americans celebrate our great nation's birth the best way we know how...drinkin' beers and blowin' stuff up. In honor of this most hallowed of traditions we present Sam vs Unicorn, an Imperial Red Ale brewed exclusively with American grown hops. We're sure you'll find to be the perfect pairing for Life, Liberty and the pursuit of semi-controlled explosions."

The beer pours into a hazy, reddish-brown body, and kicks up a finger of caramel-tinted head. The head is sticky, leaving lacing and alcohol legs, and a nice cauldron effect is forming on top of the beer. In bright light the beer is a murky red-orange, with the head picking up some nice amber/orange tones. The bottle art is pretty cool, and definitely has an, "America, fuck yeah!" vibe. 

Pipeworks Sam vs Unicorn

The aroma features bright, spicy hops. I'm getting huge resin, resinous hop punch, some wood, pine, orange, tangerine...and there's some underlying spice like tingly brown sugar or rye or something. There's also some hints of non-specific malt sweetness, hinting at caramel or bread. 

Woah-hey. The taste is surprisingly big and bold. As I recall, this is an immediate improvement from the Santa vs. Unicorn. This really does remind me of something Lagunitas would brew...there's tons of bready/caramel malt sweetness in this, with big blasts of brown sugar and rye-like spice. Between the malt and spice is fat resinous citrus (grapefruit, tangerine, orange, marmalade), some dank hops, resin/sap, and hints of wood and rind. There's big sweetness on the finish, and you feel the weight of the 9.0% ABV with light booze on the end (with some berry?).

My expectations were low, but I'm pleasantly surprised. This beer is doing everything right, and delivers what I want in an Imperial Red Ale. You have a big malty base, lots of brown sugar/rye-esque spice, and tons of resinous hops. Palate depth is outstanding, and complexity is aight. This is medium-full to full-bodied, with perfect carbonation. This is kind of boozy, as you'd expect for 9.0%. But the booze is masked, with just a hint popping up on the back (and the inevitable warming). You get citrus and bready/caramel malts up front; that rolls into brown sugar, rye-esque spice, and more hops; the back is lingering spice/hops, with a flash of malt sweetness. The finish is slightly woody and slightly dry. 

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

This is a Strong Above-Average. Imperial Reds are one of my favorite styles of beer, IF they have that huge malt body and accompanying brown sugar spice. This beer nails the style, with a huge body to support all the hop/malt/spice trimmings. I would definitely recommend grabbing a bottle of this if you see it in the Chicago-land area. I also hope Pipeworks continues to brew this beer or similar versions. The Santa vs. Unicorn was average at best, but this beer is bangin'. I like to pair these malty/spicy Red Ales with spicy Mexican food. You could also pair this beer with pizza, a burger, wings, etc. But spicy Mexican food will really hit the spot. Get some pork or fish tacos...mmm.

Random Thought: So I guess today was the release for Lost Abbey's Duck Duck Gooze, and apparently it was a complete clusterfuck. You'd think they would know by know what with Dark Lord day and all. 

Lagunitas Lucky 13 Mondo Large Red Ale

Brewed By: Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, California

Purchased: 22oz bomber bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, Illinois; 2013

Style/ABV: Imperial Red Ale, 8.65%

Reported IBUs: 76.92

A long long time ago, in a galaxy far away or some shit, I had me Lagunitas' Lucky 13.alt, which was more sublime than heroin trips gone overdose. Tonight I'm drinking the regular Lucky 13. Any beer that uses "Mondo" in the name should come with a doobie and Billabong T-Shirt. I digress. About Lagunitas (Pronounced: "LAH-goo-KNEE-tuss"):

Lagunitas is a brewery I dabbled with when I hit up their controversially named "Kronik" (Lagunitas Censored) back in November 2010. The Lagunitas website has some cool info on the brewery and the beer, and can be found here. The brewery was founded in 1993 out in Lagunitas, California, and has since moved to Petaluma in California. It seems like Lagunitas is run by a bunch of deviant madmen geniuses, and the brewery appears to be a true grassroots movement, if you catch my drift.

According to Lagunitas, the Lucky 13 was originally a 13th anniversary release for 2006. The Lucky 13.alt uses lighter malts (hence the blonde-haired woman on the bottle). The regular Lucky 13 (tonight's beer) features a brunette-haired woman on the bottle. Using my dick wizardry, I can deduce that tonight's beer will have darker malts than the Lucky 13.alt. According to my bottle, tonight's beer clocks in at 8.65% ABV, and packs 76.92 IBUs.

Lagunitas Lucky 13

As you kind of expect, the beer pours an amber/caramel color, and kicks up two to three fingers of dense, soapy, off-white/amber head. In bright light, the beer is a magnificent amber-red color; the head is soapy and sticky and leaving plenty of lacing; the body looks to be filtered, and has nice tiny carbonation bubbles. 

The aroma on this beer is nuts. Lagunitas is doing something right with their Lucky 13, because damn. As I was pouring this beer out I was getting blasted with sweet, bready citrus, resinous tropical fruits, and cake/toffee/brown sugar goodness. There's big brown sugar, pineapple, oranges, mango, and some plum. It's like their Brown Shugga' had an illegitimate love child with their Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale.

This isn't quite as mind-blowing as the Lucky 13.alt was (as per my memory), but this is about as good as a malty hop bomb can get. This beer lays on sweet, sappy, resinous citrus: orange, mango, pineapple, hints of plum. The whole thing is supported by a bready/cake malt base, with big brown sugar, caramel, bread, and biscuit.

This is dense, pushing a full-bodied mouthfeel. The mouthfeel is fat and bready with sweet resinous punch, but is surprisingly drinkable for around 8.7%. This beer screams Lagunitas, and if you've drank a few of their beers, you could probably pull this one out in a blind tasting with ease. That said, palate depth is outstanding, and complexity is not far behind. This veers towards sweet and bready, with resinous/sweet citrus up front; resinous sap and cakey bread in the middle; and bittering-but-still-malt-foward sweet hops on the back. The finish is nutty, bready, and then punches in a nice dryness.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. It's not quite as good as the Lucky 13.alt as per my recollection, and I think the Brown Shugga' and the A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' offer a slightly more fulfilling experience from top to bottom, but this beer is absolutely stellar otherwise. It's also super cheap. Bombers of this were sitting on the shelf for like 4.99. That's a steal. I'm about to pair this with a spicy quesadilla. Spicy as in I'm adding ghost pepper sauce. The sweeter notes in this would do well with wings and sweeter spices or peppers like Habanero or the Bhut Jolokia. For some reason this beer also reminds me of a Margarita, so I feel like Mexican food pairings would work. It's quite tasty, and at 4.99 a bomber you have no reason to not check it out.

Random Thought: Lagunitas is coming to Chicago...and although they've had some delays, I do look forward to their arrival. It's going to be pretty sweet. The craft beer scene in Chicago is booooming! 

Pipeworks Santa vs. Unicorn (American Barleywine Style Ale)

Brewed By: Pipeworks Brewing in Chicago, IL  

Purchased: 22oz bottle (Batch #64) bought at Binny's in IL; 2012 

Style/ABV: Barleywine, 10.0%
Reported IBUs: ?

Even though it's winter in Chicago, it has been incredibly mild (it's currently like 37 degrees out) and there hasn't been much snow. As such, I'm not quite feeling the Imperial Stouts and big winter Belgian Ales. So tonight is the perfect night for a hoppy "Imperial Red Ale/American Style Barleywine." About Pipeworks:

Pipeworks has humble roots. The brewery was founded in Chicago in 2011 by Beejay Oslon and Gerrit Lewis. The duo were both homebrewers that met while while working at West Lakeview Liquors. In 2011, they began to raise money for their brewery using the online Internet site, Kickstarter. Olson and Lewis were both educated at De Struise Brewery in Oostvleteren, Belgium. With that knowledge, and the money from their kickstarter, Olson and Lewis created a unique brewery that is smaller in size, and intended to brew smaller batches of beer. The company's motto is "small batches, big beers." And indeed, since the brewery has been around, they've been releasing a lot of one-offs and small batch releases. At one point - and maybe still - the goal was the release a new beer every week. You can read more about the brewery at their website HERE.

As per usual, Pipeworks gives a brief description of the beer on the back:

"Father Christmas, Head Beardo, St. Nicholas Cage, a man of many names he may be, yet he has but one true foe... This Holiday Season, the Unicorn is back bearing his mantle of rainbowed chaos, and this time, it's seasonal bitches. An Imperial Red Ale, American Style Barleywine or Red Double IPA call it what you will, grab one and get your Jollies while the holiday fight is on..."   

I suppose I'm rooting for the Unicorn. Into the pink elephant glass...

Pipeworks Santa vs. Unicorn

The beer pours a dark red/brown color, with a pinky's worth of reddish/grey head. The head doesn't hang around for long, but leaves behind a cauldron effect. There's a ton of visible carbonation, in the form of very tiny bubbles. In bright light, this one is a dark red/orange color; the head picks up that red/orange color. This is slightly hazy, but cleaned up nicely for being bottle conditioned. 

The aroma on this features a lot of sweet citrus, zesty orange, and sugary backbone. Right now...this is really hoppy. This beer is certainly a candidate for aging, and the hops will probably drop off this nicely. This smells quite bitter, with big grapefruit, rind, slight wood, pine, that sweet citrus, orange, and a hint of elusive malt sweetness (maybe toffee?). 

If you like hoppy Barleywines, this is quite nice. This blasts your mouth with fat citrus, pine, grapefruit, and wood up front. This is quite bitter, and rolls into a spicy mid-palate, and then a bitter and dry finish. The lingering flavors on this are dry, booze, and then -- surprisingly -- brown sugar and light spice. The hops in this are zesty, citrus, grapefruit, pine, slight wood/bitter, and slightly resinous. There's a lot of malt sweetness, with caramel, toffee, hints of fruitcake or bready alcohol, and definite spice. 

This has the makings of a Barleywine...only time will tell. Actually, there's a nice malt sweetness and spice backbone to this, I think the hops will drop off leaving some lingering pine and wood, and this will really open up. Right now, 'dis shit is hoppy. At 10.0% ABV, this is pretty smooth, and supported by light carbonation. Palate depth is a bit thin between front and mid palate, and complexity is moderate to low for the style (even as an Imperial Red). I would say the mouthfeel here is medium-full, slightly sticky, and pretty dry. Up front is malt sweetness, and then woody hops; the middle rolls into bitterness, wood, grapefruit, rind, pine; the back end features brown sugar, dryness, lingering hops, and boozy bread/caramel/toffee.

Rating: Average

I'm feeling a Strong Average here. I think I've been a bit spoiled with my Imperial Reds and Barleywines. This beer has a lot of potential, but it's not dialing up the complexity, and that front to mid-palate leaves me wondering what this beer will taste like in 1 to 3 years. I may have to pick up another bottle of this to age...because why the fuck not. This beer has a lot of aging potential, I think. There's some malt complexity in the back of this. As far as food pairings...anything burger, steak, strong cheese, BBQ, or even something spicy. I'd pair this beer with some wings, to be honest. I could go for some wings. Mmm...wings.

Random Thought: I understand that Pipeworks is turning out an insane amount of beer (it's really impressive seeing all their new stuff on the shelves!), but at some point...it would be nice to see their website up and running. I mean, it's up...and sort of running. But I guess they are trying to win me over with their beer, not their website.  

Lagunitas Imperial Red

Brewed By: Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, California

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack from Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2012

Style/ABV: Imperial Red Ale, 7.8%

I don't think I've had an Imperial Red Ale before, and being that I really enjoy Lagunitas, I felt a strong obligation to check out this beer. So here we are. In case you don't know who Lagunitas are (Pronounced: "LAH-goo-KNEE-tuss"):

Lagunitas is a brewery I dabbled with when I hit up their controversially named "Kronik" (Lagunitas Censored) back in November 2010. The Lagunitas website has some cool info on the brewery and the beer, and can be found here. The brewery was founded in 1993 out in Lagunitas, California, and has since moved to Petaluma in California. It seems like Lagunitas is run by a bunch of deviant madmen geniuses, and the brewery appears to be a true grassroots movement, if you catch my drift.

This beer, the Imperial Red, is an interesting beast. According to the Lagunitas' website, this is a big spicy beer, with big hop notes, and lots of rich red malt. They state that this beer is a variation of their original, 1993, Lagunitas Red. This beer clocks in at 7.8% ABV...and here is where things get a bit confusing. The 6-pack states that this beer clocks in at 84.20 IBUs. However, the bottle clearly states that this beer clocks in at 54.20 IBUs. Obviously there was a misprint somewhere...so the question is: which one is it? I guess we will find out in the review...

Imperial Red is not a recognized BJCP style, so Ratebeer puts this beer into the American Strong Ale category, and BeerAdvocate went with their American Amber/Red Ale category. I'm guessing that neither really captures the essence of this beer, although I'm inclined to side more with the Strong Ale categorization...

Fortunately, if you consult the Brewers Association's 2012 Beer Style Guidelines, you can see that they have an "Imperial or Double Red Ale" category under North American beers. They describe the Imperial Red Ale as a style with bitterness around 55-85 IBUs, an ABV between 6.3% and 8.4%, and an Original Gravity of 1.080-1.100. The Lagunitas Red basically falls into this category. This style is described as having intense hop bitterness, flavor, and aroma. This style is balanced with complex alcohol flavors, fruity esters, and medium to high caramel malt character (it is an Imperial RED). Lastly, you can role over to the Home Brewing Wiki, and they list out the Great American Beer Festival/Brewers Association style guidelines that I just described above. Here is their link for the Imperial Red Ale.

Let's get a bottle poppin' and do this review. 

Lagunitas Imperial Red

Holy shit this is aromatic. Just cracking the bottle cap unleashed a flurry of tropical fruit notes and citrus. The beer pours with 3 to 4 fingers of thick, foamy, IPA-looking head. The head is off-white in low light, and in low light the beer has a dark red/copper body. When held to a bright light, this beer is reddish/orange/copper, with an off-white head that is tinted red/copper. The head retention is great, with one finger of head hanging around, and there is already nice lacing as the head pulls on the glass. The beer is transparent, with a moderate stream of small bubbles, and there are some alcohol legs as I let the beer move around the side of my glass.

The aroma on this beer is so fresh and so bright. I'm getting big tropical fruit notes, hints of citrus, hints of a slight pungent twang, big sugary caramel esters, and a big spice note. Tangerine, orange, grapefruit, kiwi, pineapple, a peppercorn or rye type spice that is a little more mild than straight up black pepper; maybe a slight grainy/bready spice. Really good stuff on the nose, and like I said: very fresh and bright.

Upon my first sip, I'm getting a lot of really nice hops, spice, and malt. I'm kind of inclined to say this is an 84.20 IBU beer? There is a reasonable amount of dry hop bite in here, in the form of nice grapefruit, with a hint of woodiness. And really nice alcohol warming with this beer. Each sip is bringing in some nice heat, and you get a nice alcohol balance in the mix. I'm getting grapefruit, tangerine, mango; a balance of sweet caramel malts; some nice woody and earthy dryness, and some really nice peppery/peppercorn spice. Incredibly earthy, hoppy, and sugary; but quite balanced. There is a slight pungent quality to the hops, and a definite drying out on the back end that is both woody and boozy. You definitely get alcohol in the mix, but it is balanced, and the dry alcohol warming on the back end is spectacular. 

This is a full-bodied beer, but the dryness and bitterness cuts through the full-bodied-ness. This beer is super sweet and sugary, as you might expect with an Imperial hop bomb. The carbonation is perfect, with medium carbonation that hits in the front and back, providing just the right amount of support for the beer. The palate depth is great, and the complexity is great. Up front is big citrus/tropical hops, and hints of sweet malt; this rolls into spices, hops, and burgeoning malts; the back end is big malt balance, followed by huge citrusy/woody hop drying, and alcohol warming. A beer that finishes this warm and dry beckons another sip...but this is a beer meant to be enjoyed. At 7.8% ABV, I found this very drinkable, but I would definitely drink this beer to enjoy it (versus sessioning it). 

Rating: Divine Brew

This is very enjoyable, and for that, I'm feeling a light Divine Brew rating. There is not a whole lot to rip on here; in fact, this beer is remarkably balanced, hoppy, spicy, malty, and drinkable. The nose was incredibly bright, and the beer managed to bring some nice complexity to the table. Basically: Hops and Malts, what is there to hate. It's the little stuff though, like the carbonation, or the nice balance of alcohol, and the wonderful dry/boozy finish. Those are the things that make a beer stand out. With that said, definitely check this beer out...and until next time, don't drink and perform brain surgery.