Imperial Red Ale in Auburn’s Corner News 11-21-2007

Our fifth weekly craft beer column in Auburn’s Corner News. This one focused on Terrapin’s Big Hoppy Monster, an Imperial Red Ale. The thumbnail to the left links to an image of the Corner News article, or click here for a .pdf version. The original text is copied below. The end result appearing in the paper may be a little bit different than the original due to space and formatting issues.

Big Hoppy Monster
by John Little

I have quite a bit of respect for Terrapin Beer Company in Athens, Georgia. Two guys with a vision and passion for good beer started this company, contracting with a brewery in the northeast to produce certain styles of beers and ship them to Terrapin in Georgia for distribution. Recently, Terrapin has begun to move its brewing operations to Georgia. Talk to craft beer lovers in Alabama, and Terrapin’s Rye Pale Ale and India Brown Ale will quickly be recognized as a couple of the best craft beers produced in the South… as well as their Big Hoppy Monster.

But in my humble opinion, Big Hoppy Monster needs a big malt infusion. The label states that this “mammoth imperial red ale leads with a tantalizing hop aroma that is quickly complemented by an enormous malt backbone. Finishing with a multitude of hoppy goodness, this ‘Monster Beer’ is truly not for the faint at heart.” The label is one of the best things about this beer… a turtle burning rubber in the sky in a flaming hot rod crashing through a cloud of hops with lightening bolts shooting from the name. Without a doubt, the beer has a prominent hop aroma and powerful hop bitterness which remains to the finish. But, in my opinion, the beer is not supported by an enormous malt backbone, and the hop bitterness overwhelmed any hop flavor that may have been there. I think Terrapin is a great company, and kudos to them for having the courage to produce an Imperial Red Ale.

There are many great Imperial styles. Typically an imperial version of a style is simply a bigger, more robust, higher gravity, higher hopped version of an existing style. Imperial Pale Ales and Imperial Stouts are now established and commonly produced styles. Imperial Saisons, Imperial Brown Ales and Imperial Pilsners are emerging styles.

But attempts to imperialize an Irish Red Ale will, I think, be difficult for any brewery to achieve. Irish Red Ales are not much to speak of to begin with. When you imperialize subtle blandness, what do you end up with? … more subtle blandness. The hop aroma and bitterness of the Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster are distinct and prominent… well done. But the malt backbone is just not there. No fault of the brewers… It’s the fault of the Irish Red style.

John Little is a healthcare attorney whose real passion is brewing beer. If you’re interested in learning to brew your own, visit auburnbrewclub.org.

Filed under: Commercial Beer, In the News