By Iron Chef Leftovers
I love going to Elysian’s location near the stadium since they have a great staff, good food and an extensive beer list. One of the benefits of their list is that they tend to have stuff on tap at any given point that I have not tried before, which keeps it interesting, and generally means that I will order those beers (the exception is when they have Dark of the Moon on tap – that is what gets ordered). A recent trip to Fields was no exception as I stumbled upon “Good, Bad & Red.” I can’t find Elysian’s description of the beer , so I can tell you it is 6.2% ABV and 35 IBU is made with 4 hop varieties including Cara, C-77 and Columbus, and is only available on tap.
The beer pours a beautiful rosy red color. The nose is awash in malt and barley complimented with a heavy dose of citrus. The initial sip is a hammer of grapefruit and citrus peel followed by a mellow malty sweetness and just a hint of bitterness and barley at the very end. Despite its low IBU, this beer was very hop forward with its citrus flavors, but not bitterness, so I think that this one is a nice compromise for hop heads and casual beer drinkers alike. As it warms, the grapefruit remains the dominant up-front flavor with the sweetness and citrus peel much more restrained. The finish becomes dominated by the malt and barley with just a slight hint of bitter hop resin.
Overall this beer was a nice change of pace from what I usually get at Elysian.
Elysian’s Good, Bad & Red saunters into town with an inspired performance of 3 Blondie’s out of 5.
Ed Note: In case you don’t get it, Blondie was Clint Eastwood’s character’s name in “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”
FlatbreadGarden 