Invested in an IRA

If this is the blog equivalent of boring you with baby pictures, my apologies.

But I just wanted to let you know that the beer I helped brew a while back at Mad Bomber is on tap now, for your enjoyment (hopefully).

With his one-barrel system on the way out soon to make room for a shiny new 7-barrel brewhouse, Mad Bomber’s Tom Applegate invited me to create and brew a small-batch recipe with him while he still had the flexibility to do so.

I wanted something hoppy and red, but without the caramel and citrus flavors so common to those types of beers. So we used some Munich and black patent malts along with base two-row, and hopped it with Chinook, Nugget and Crystal, just to be different.

From that standpoint, Ignition IRA (yes, that’s a play on both India red ale and the Irish Republican Army’s fondness for car bombs) is a success.

“It’s different from anything else we’ve ever done,” Applegate says. “It’s very unique, and not in a bad way.”

Ignition (6.5 percent alcohol by volume, 78 International Bitterness Units) is a deep, rich red color with a whiff of floral, spicy Crystal hops (also used for dry-hopping).

The middle is darkly malty with hints of fruit, probably from the British ale yeast we used along with the house American yeast. It finishes dry with a bit of roastiness and hop bitterness.

While the hops are more in the background than I anticipated – possibly because of their age, Applegate allows – there still are some piney notes from the Chinook and herbal earthiness from the Nugget.

To me, it drinks more like a mild winter warmer than a red IPA (think Snow Cap lite, with less caramel), which actually works pretty well on a rainy day.

But what do you think? If you get a chance to check it out, please click on the headline above and leave a comment. Cheers!