By Iron Chef Leftovers
One of the best things about NW Peaks is that, despite only having 4 taps, you usually know what 2 of your choices are and the other two tend to be rotating. Redoubt Red is one of the beers that you will usually find on tap in their brewery, along with a few other select locations.
From the NW Peaks website (check it out to find out the story about the mountain too):
The “Style”. What is a red? The only true red “style” is an Irish Red; however, Irish Reds are not a common place in the Pacific NW. Rather, in the Pacific NW it is a category defined by the color, giving a brewery complete flexibility to for their interpretation. Two reds from the region might have absolutely no similarity – other than the color – so loving one, might not mean loving them all.
The Beer. Our interpretation brings you a nice ruby colored beer. The aroma and flavor is dominated by the hops and is a nice blend of fruity and spicy notes (contrasting from the citrus notes of the Eldorado Pale and other NW Pales). A slight residual sweetness and mouthfeel is present to support the hop character in Redoubt Red. The result is nice, crisp, easy drinking red with a distinct hop profile that is sure to leave you wanting another.
ABV: 5.25% Malts: ESB, Munich, Crystal, Wheat, Black. Hops, Apollo, Liberty, Halertau, Columbus. American ale yeast.
Redoubt pours dark red with a pure white head, offering a great color contrast. Notes of spice and malt appear on the nose with hints of citrus in the background. Lighter than you might expect on the palate – grain and notes of citrus initially tease you before transitioning into a nice light spice blend (possibly cardamom or allspice?), before a final hint of bitterness – very mild and pleasant, nothing over powering, and slight malty sweetness. There is a final citrus burst on the back end of the beer for a nice surprise and to remind you there are hops in here, and those citrus notes become more pronounced as the beer warms, but never overpower any of the other flavors. Great balance and complexity, the beer drinks easy and clean and is a really great all-purpose beer for when you want something lighter, but still want big flavors.
NW Peaks Redoubt Red guides you in with 3 GPS locators out of 5.
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