Bringing up baby

There’s no greater joy, they say, than watching your children grow up happy and healthy. Which is sort of how I feel about Mad Bomber’s Ignition IRA.

When owner Tom Applegate invited me last year to create and brew a recipe with him, I immediately thought of a hoppy India red ale, one of my favorite styles. Our initial effort on his old, makeshift one-barrel system wasn’t bad, but lacked the hop character we had hoped for.

Earlier this month, I returned to Hayden to help make the beer with head brewer Alan Longacre on the Bomber’s since-installed, much more sophisticated seven-barrel setup.

It went on tap Wednesday, and the results are strikingly different. For starters, the color is a clear, deep reddish-brown, compared to the muddier hue of the original.

Like all of the Bomber’s beers on the upgraded system, the flavors also are much more distinct. There’s still a solid, dryish malt body with Munich richness and some black patent roastiness, but the hop character – from a combination of Chinook, Nugget and Crystal – is considerably more pronounced, with citrus notes sneaking through the predominant pine and spice.

We also tweaked the recipe a bit, fermenting entirely with cleaner American yeast instead of a blend of both that and fruitier English yeast.

“The absence of the English yeast really allows the hops to pop out,” Applegate says. “From what I’ve seen in the taproom, a lot of it is going to the IPA drinkers.”

The beer also is starting to make its way out into the Bomber’s distribution network. If you get a chance to check it out, please leave a comment and let me know what you think.