I love a Red IPA. Hoppy flavours against a malty-sweet backbone - delicious! I’m struggling to find many of them just now though. I honestly don’t understand why it’s not a more commonly brewed style in the UK.
Beyond these (likely very good ones) I’m unable to find any other hoppy red beers out there at the moment.
Does anyone have any advice on where to find good Red IPAs? I’d love to get a recommendation for an online shop that has a good number of hoppy red beers from the UK and further afield.
Are there any other Red IPA fans out there? What’s the best Red IPA you’ve tasted? Why don’t more brewers make them?
Don’t know if Siren still do their excellent Liquid Mistress (used to be part of their core range) and its souped-up big sister Liquid Monstrous? Liquid Mistress (especially on cask) is up there with my favourite beers ever.
Like @wheresthepath I was going to suggest Siren too. I don’t think(?) they still do Liquid Mistress but they do release a couple of Red IPAs every year. This year they’ve done Jiggery Pokery and Red Lioness. The former is probably past its best now if you can even find it, the latter is less than 2 months old.
I too am a lover of red IPA! I would highly recommend Kernel London Brick and Kernel Half Brick. I note that the Half Brick is available now from their webshop - £32.50 for a case of 12 (plus shipping) - hard to beat in terms of value for money for quality. It’s down on RB as an amber ale but I think there’s a bit of overlap between red IPA and amber ale.
In broader terms, if you’re after more of a throwback approach to hoppy bears, I would strongly recommend Elusive. If you like a sort of classic West Coast vibe, I think they are brewing some of the best stuff in the UK.
Elusive actually has a series of amber ales - Level Up - that showcases different hops. The ABV on these beers is 5% so not in the real IPA range. But if you ask me, us red IPA lovers need to take what we can get.
FYI Kernel London Brick is on RB as a rye IPA but whatever, it’s essentially a red IPA. And the Half Brick is only 4.5% ABV so not really in IPA territory there, but it’s got the flavour profile in terms of piney hops and hearty malts.
I thought Spend Your Wishes was superb. I gave that a 4.3 on RB. Burning Sky and Elusive are two of my favourite breweries and they really delivered on that collab.
I was going to recommend Elusive amd their collabs, plus the ones Siren have done. Must be a Finchampstead thing . And the Red IPA/Ale/Rye beers do often transcend styles
My personal favorite Red IPA were a couple of TIPAs that Little Earth Project brewed a few years ago.
Too late on this Thread - I love a hoppy Red IPA also, Summerwine used to do some good ones. Shame about Liquid Mistress, was great in the core range, probably time for Darron to consider a re brew - will mention it when I see him next.
5am Saint back in old days was a good beer, no idea now.
Level up is always great. Villages Great Tree Collab was lovely.
Bumping this thread for interest.
Anyone spotted any more Red IPAs about recently?
I should’ve posted this much earlier but Salopian Red Mist has had a rare rebrew. The can confirms it’s an IPA (not a “Red Ale”) so I have amended its style and included the brewery’s description. I’ve not drank it yet so I can’t tell you how it’s tasting but since you (@jamestulloch and probably others here) haven’t rated it before I thought you might like to know about it. I got my can from RAD Beer btw.
Cans of Brass Castle’s Meet Me Underwater were also knocking about at the same time. Had it yesterday for the first time, it was fine but nothing to write home about. Personally I couldn’t taste the seaweed/salt additions yet some past reviews complained there was too much.
And technically not a red IPA but a hoppy red ale, Baron Typo was nice.
Siren produced their original Liquid Mistress again for their 10th Anniversary- had it on cask there a few weeks ago, it’s lovley still. Sadly the will not bottle it or brew it again by the sounds of it, due to the name being offensive to some.
Had an alright red IPA over the weekend, the Red Bus from Sunny Republic (Andwell). My manager at work knows I like beer so picked me up a couple cans of this red IPA when she visited the brewery recently. She doesn’t understand my beer habit to know I would have appreciated two different beers instead of two of the same, but her heart was very much in the right place and I certainly didn’t mind having a second red IPA!
To be honest, I’ve recently been drinking the same beers more often, new rates be damned. Perhaps my manager is actually more clued in than I thought! But how did she know of my particular affinity for red IPA?!?
