Green Flash Hop Head Red Ale

There are some breweries that, in my mind, seem to be able to do no wrong. Yards, Ballast Point, Russian River are just a few that come to mind immediately. I'm adding Green Flash to that list. I love their West Coast IPA, and I can now add the Hop Head Red Ale to my list of favorites.

The name really tells you what you're getting with this beer. It's a red ale but so much more than just a red ale, as indicated by the addition of "hop head". It's a red ale for those people, like me, who love the hops.

The pour is what you would expect from a red ale - a nice, clear red.

According to the BJCP, the aroma for red ales should exhibit "low to moderate hop aroma from dry hopping or late kettle additions of American hop varieties. A citrusy hop character is common, but not required. Moderately low to moderately high maltiness balances and sometimes masks the hop presentation, and usually shows a moderate caramel character". And the aroma (and taste) is where the "hop head" of this beer really comes through. The smell of hops overrides that of the malt - it's just the way I like it, piney and citrusy.

The taste starts off hoppy, with some nice malt flavors coming in after. This definitely isn't what you would expect from a typical red ale. I guess that's why even the brewers beg the question "Is it red IPA?" I would answer emphatically and excitedly "yes!" followed by "give me another!"

Green Flash West Coast IPA

I'd like to note that today is Yom Kippur. I'm not religious and haven't done anything even remotely religious in many years, but for some reason today I felt the need to try and fast. It's 3:38 right now, which means there's about 4 more hours until I'm going to eat. I won't lie - I did have a bowl of cereal this morning at 9:30. Still, that's many more hours than I typically go without eating. So if this post seems rambling or incoherent, I'm going to blame it on the lack of food in me.

I'm also watching The Happening. It's like a train wreck. It's not at all good (sorry, M. Night. You're a Philly boy and I love you, but this is just not up to par with The 6th Sense), but I can't turn away from it. And the worse it gets, the more I want to watch.

I feel like I should be reviewing a He'brew beer today, but I haven't yet had one so I can't do that. Instead I'll talk about Green Flash West Coast IPA. I've had it before, but had it most recently on Saturday at Isaac Newton's, which was part of an IPA lunch hosted by Lew Bryson. What a fun afternoon!

This IPA is quite bitter. So you can imagine this review is going to be quite good. It pours a nice coppery, orange color. The smell is what I love best (next to the taste): distinctly hoppy - citrusy and piney and just all over wonderful. The taste is nothing less than exceptional. All citrus and pine and earth with a nice caramely sweet finish. It's such a great beer - I could drink it all day, even with it's 7% ABV. Actually, I'm surprised - this is much lower than I thought it would be given the hoppy flavor of the beer.

I may have mentioned this before, so forgive me if it seems that I'm bragging. I'm going to San Diego in November (Eagles v. Chargers!) and am doing a brewery tour. I'm so lucky because Green Flash Brewery is one of the stops (along with San Diego Brewing Co and the incredible Ballast Point). Can't wait to do some reviews after that little trip.