Big Time Matts Red Eye IPA

Draft at the brewpub. Pours deep leathery brown and quite hazy. Thin sudsy tan head. Very neutral nose; inoffensive. Medium body, active carb, resin-forward attack. Piney burny resiny bitter body and a long tobacco resin bitter cling finish. Barkeep mentioned that it has some roast malt in it; maybe under all the flavors I’m picking up is mainly roast. Nice stuff. Maybe not the most refreshing IPA in the world, but complex and satisfying and drinkable,

Dark red, cloudy (of course), with a rocky head. Rich woody aroma, lots of subtle grapefruit and orange underneath. Slightly caramel-accented malt aromas. Rich and supple caramelly, woodsy malts and soft but insistent bitterness. Beautiful woody notes, light citrus, and faint chocolate. Excellent brew - almost the caramel taste of a great "Irish" red but with IPA hops.

Tap at the brewery. This is IPA #100 for me.

Pours dark, dark orange amber for an IPA. The aroma is a lovely, classic centennial IPA: grapefruit and peaches and a bit of spicy pine. The flavor is equally nice: not heavily burnt-malted despite its dark color, just tasty hops not hitting too hard, almost like a Drakes Expedition or similar heavily-hopped amber ale. Mildly sweet but not sticky, a very characteristic Big Time flavor to this one. Fairly light body and palate, but that just makes this one wonderfully drinkable.

A very nice beer and worth trying any time it is on tap.

Draft. Rich dark amber beer with an off-white head. Low malty, grapefruit aroma. Nutty, malty flavor with some backing bitterness. (For an IPA, where’s the hops??). Medium bodied. Lingering caramel and grapefruit.

On tap. Nice cloudy dark red. Good head. Spicy and lemon hop aroma. Lemon citrus taste is pretty strong. Bitter hops. Not very balanced and a bit thin, but worth trying.