Review: Alaskan Brewing Company Imperial Red Ale
Another new addition to Alaska’s Pilot Series: Imperial Red Ale, complete with an ominous looking snow crab on the front of the label.
This limited edition red ale combines lots of hops with lots of malt, ostensibly to bring you the best of both worlds. It’s certainly got plenty of things to talk about: Bracing, forest-driven hops hit you first (particularly on the almost floral, aromatic nose), then the caramel-fueled silky-sweet malt joins the party. The end result isn’t so much a balanced sweet-n-bitter as it is a bit of a mudball, these burly elements dueling each other so effectively they cancel each other out. What’s left behind is a bit woody and more than a little muddy, a rather unbalanced brew that never quite finds the footing that the initial rush of hops provides.
8.5% abv.
B- / $9 per 22 oz. bottle
Alaskan Brewing Company Imperial Red Ale
$9
