Green Flash Hop Head Red - Red India Pale Ale - Green Flash Brewing Co.

estlinska

Arkansas

4/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served on tap at the Saucer into a snifter on 3/23/13. Pours a deep, solid reddish-amber like well polished cherry furnitures. The head is full bubbles of dark off white stacking about 3cm with incredible lacing. The smell is full of resinous hops and sweet cane sugar. There is vibrant tropical fruits and malty sweetness, pineapple core, and pine cone resin. Great smell overall. The taste is heavy of malt with very good hop backbone. The taste is a little hefty on the sweet overall, which just slightly calls detriment to the overall tast. The mouthfeel is very full, thick with oily hops. Overall, this is another beer that wins much on draft that it lacked in the bottle. It's a truly good beer overall, especially fresh.

Serving type: on-tap

03-29-2013 21:14:23 | More by estlinska

Dave1999

Virginia

4/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a dark amber colour with a nice white head.

The smell is sweet, bready with some piney hops.

The taste is powerful, bitter from the hops and sweet from the malts, there is also some caramel and licorice .

The mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation.

Overall a very tasty beer the sweet malts and interesting but it's definitely the bitter piney hops that are the center stage.

Serving type: on-tap

12-17-2012 22:22:16 | More by Dave1999

UCLABrewN84

California

4.05/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

UPDATED REVIEW TO CORRECT LISTING.

On tap at Green Flash Brewing Company in San Diego, CA.

Pours a clear amber with a foamy orange-tan head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Foamy rings of lace line the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, citrus fruit, citrus zest, and alcohol. Taste is much the same with a medium amount of hop bitterness on the palate after each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp and medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer with a great aroma and tasty flavor.

Serving type: on-tap

10-14-2012 04:11:25 | More by UCLABrewN84

argock

Virginia

4.15/5  rDev +7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Served on-tap in a Shaker pint at Mellow Mushroom (Charlottesville, VA).

A: Very dark maroon-ruby with short cap of off-white head with a few scraps of lacing.

S: The aroma boasts muscular maltiness with slight roast and dark and light crystal notes coupled with pine and resin hops character.

T: The hops component takes over in the flavor with strong pine, resin, and orange citrus character. The maltiness still carries plenty of weight with a variety of caramel malt contributions including roasty notes with burnt caramel and sweeter characteristics as well.

M: A very drinkable beer for the big flavor with relatively even, low carbonation with medium body.

O: A big red ale and then some. Blasts off with big hops and malt flavors.

Serving type: on-tap

09-16-2012 04:39:08 | More by argock

garuda

Pennsylvania

3.35/5  rDev -13.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A - Deep amber, white head that has good retention with lacing.

S/T - Sweet caramel malts up front, finished off with resinous pine hops.

M - Medium to full body, medium carbonation, finishes clean with lasting bitterness.

O - With a name like this, I expect the hops to be much more assertive (a la Nugget Nectar). Not just on the back end of the taste. Still good, but could be more hoppy.

Serving type: on-tap

08-19-2012 16:27:59 | More by garuda

Cyberkedi

Georgia

3.93/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Comes out of the tap a dark, nearly opaque reddish amber with a thick, fine-bubbled, light tan head. Hoppy aroma has a hint of malt. Flavor is more hoppy than malty, leaning towards an IPA, a bit bitter with subtle notes of caramel and fruit. Firm, smooth texture has some good fizz and life.

Serving type: on-tap

08-05-2012 21:55:31 | More by Cyberkedi

TwelveOunces

Kentucky

3.95/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Serve on tap in a pint glass

This beer pours a very dark red with some haze and an off white head. The nose is dominantly hops, very citric and quite vibrant. The taste of the beer starts off with a nice bitterness and graces your palate with a fresh hop profile. The hops are citrusy with pineapple and grapefruit being dominant. The malts are more present then their standard IPA, the have some caramel tastes as well as toffee. The beer drinks about as well as an IPA should and wont give anybody a hard time. This is a decent green flash, not up to some of their other brews but still a solid beer.

Serving type: on-tap

06-27-2012 00:46:16 | More by TwelveOunces

mdaschaf

Washington

3.2/5  rDev -17.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Had on tap at the Pickled Pig. Review from notes.

A: Pours a red/brown with a small off-white head. Not much retention, but nice lacing.

S: Slightly spicy, but not really much going on. Some very faint citrus fruit and some grapefruit, but seems lacking in terms of hop presence. There is some grainy malt that comes through strong.

T: Similarly lacking in hop presence. Mostly spices and lots of caramel. Was expecting this beer to be very hop forward based on previous beers I have had from green flash.

M: Medium bodied with medium to high carbonation.

O: Like I said before, was expecting much more of a hop bomb and got a malty beer. Disappointing.

Serving type: on-tap

05-14-2012 13:44:41 | More by mdaschaf

BEERchitect

Kentucky

4/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Is it an American IPA? Is it an American Amber Ale? The lines blur with this very hoppy Red Ale and appeal to those who like the hearty malt flavor of Ambers but think that higher hop additions would better offset the sweetness typically associated with Amber Ales.

The beer opens with a hazy red rusty hue and quickly builds a sturdy and slightly yellowish head. With great retention and lace, the beer sings the praises of hop-heavy ales.

Sharp aromas of pine, grapefruit, and fresh-cut grasses dominate the nose while the toasted amber barley malt supports the hops in a very IPA kinda way. With little influence from fruity esters or spicy phenols, the beer carries a clean malt and hop conversation through and through.

And so go the flavors- hop dominant with the early taste of spruce, white grapefruit pith and pulp, and a grassy herbal taste that develops into a resiny bitterness at finish. Meanwhile, the medium toast flavor of barley brings about mild caramel sweetness, bread crust savory notes, and with a clean, fresh baked barley taste not only support the hops but add greater balance than the nose suggests.

Medium in body, the beer feels lighter on the tongue because of the creamy carbonation, higher attenuation, and hop derived dryness late. The beer really lightens considerably as the resiny hop bitterness closes the beer, and without watering causes a very high rate of drinkability to occur.

For one, I appreciate a well balanced Amber Ale, but these hoppier versions appeal much better to me as the hop-forward nature of the beers give more intrigue and better offset the caramel heavy sweetness of most beers of the style.

Serving type: on-tap

01-30-2012 16:26:51 | More by BEERchitect

wl0307

United Kingdom (England)

4.1/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Coming in a short 355ml brown bottle, no freshness info. is provided on the beer label; served mildly chilled in a short-stemmed goblet. The beer label states this is a “Red India Pale Ale” and “Amarillo Dry Hopped”. Tasted alongside Brewdog 10 Heads High (BD), another take on the "Red India Pale Ale" style.

Appearance: lightly translucent, bright copper in colour, coming with a thick light-beige froth settling to a thin sheet to last, leaving tight layers of rim along the way; the carbonation comes rather light, ejecting large bubbles sporadically.
Smell: barley-candy-ish malty and sour-sweet jammy fruity at the same time, suggesting prune jam, figs, caramel malts, smelling very much in my experience like a barleywine, due to the intensity and density of amber, caramel and/or crystal malts; a good swirl would bring up notes of lychees, perfumy esters, fresh oily resinous flowers, and aromatic pine. Rich, aromatic, resinous, interestingly structured, providing different enjoyment of malt complexity and resinous hops on two layers, “sniff by sniff”, “swirl by swirl”.
Taste: semi-sweet foretaste, showing lots of sweetened black tea, lychee skins, grapefruit peels, fat prunes, etc., quite thin-structured sweet AND dry-ish as of caramel-glazed liquorice plus roast malts, leaving a nice herbal-sweet aftertaste with more liquorice, prunes, bitter grapefruit and lychee-shell like aroma to linger at the back of the palate. Overall, it is well-balanced, mildly sweeter at first, but the moderate level of tannic, yeasty bitterness outweighs the other elements to render a deliciously resinous, lingeringly bitter and satisfyingly chewy finish.
Mouthfeel & Overall: medium-bodied, very attenuated on the carbonation yet not overly flat, this “Red India Pale Ale” tastes like a numbed-down version of a barleywine using predominant American piney hops and of course dry-hopped to add more depth of bitterness and resins to the overall flavour profile. Overall, it is far more estery than BD and the palate hints at a possible close-to-expiry-date freshness for this bottle, but still I find it an extremely enjoyable experience with this beer style with an ironic name, Red India Pale Ale…

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2013 21:17:11 | More by wl0307

matjack85

Illinois

3.74/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

I tried this at Rivers in Chicago as it was right across the street from the Opera House and we arrived early for the show. Surprisingly decent beer list and I hadn't tried this one yet, so I ordered it. $8 for a 12oz bottle served in a red wine glass. I'm sure they're much cheaper at a liquor store, but this was downtown Chicago, so you're paying for the ambiance as well as the beer. Forgot to check the freshness date, but other reviewers seem to have found one so I'm sure they're on the back label.

The beer poured a mostly clear brick red color with a 1-finger fluffy white head with good retention and decent lacing.

It had both a piny and citrusy hop aroma.

Very hoppy, but with a surprisingly high amount of sweet caramel malt as well. The hops are both grapefruity and piny reaching a 70 IBU level. Very balanced with the addition of all that malt.

Medium bodied with a slightly sticky finish, despite the medium high carbonation.

I've not had many red IPA's, but I enjoyed this one.

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2013 15:16:42 | More by matjack85

--Dom--

Missouri

4.26/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a bottle into a pint glass. Awesome I got this stuff about 4 weeks old, I had passed on it a few times because it was seriously dated. Pours a deep amber. Aroma is citrusy with pine also and sweet malts. This beer is far above average and is solidifying red ipa's becoming one of my favorite styles. Taste is awesome bitter grapefruity up front, balanced by sweet bready malts, pine on the back end. Mouthfeel is almost creamy. Overall pretty awesome beer, would definitely pick it up again. Wish it came in 6-packs. Best thing I've had from Green Flash so far.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2013 06:16:43 | More by --Dom--

flayedandskinned

California

4.24/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottled on 3/13/13
Poured into the Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head IPA Glass

Appearance: Pours a beautiful, clear amber with nice red highlights. A massive, thick 3 fingers tall off white head blossoms out of the beer as soon as its poured and boy, does it stick around and leaves some nice sticky lacing behind. Fantastic looking red ale.

Aroma: Big, juicy hops positively leap out of the glass as soon as you raise it to your lips; Huge notes of grapefruit, lemon peel, tangerine, fresh pine needle and a really lovely dank, earthiness from the summit and columbus hops, but boy do those amarillo hops really shine through. Underneath the mountain of hop aromatics there are some sweet, bready caramel malts poking through.

Taste: First off, your tongue is slapped around by very citrus forward hops; grapefruit, lemon, tangerine, pine and a slight earthy onion note. Middle of the taste, there is a really nice sweet, bready maltiness that offers some nice contrast to the bright, pungent hops but just the right amount to not steal the show. The beer finishes dry with an assertive bitterness and lingering notes of caramel and citrus ladden hops.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with a robust mouthfeel, but still remains some light and is very refreshing. It is a tad thin on the back end, but it works. Moderate to high carbonation.

Overall: I've had this plenty of times before and it's an awesome beer that is unfortunately under appreciated by a lot of people. Greenflash calls this a Red IPA, I was a bit skeptical at first, knowing that a high percentage of sweet crystal malt does bode well for the dry, bright and crisp West Coast IPA archetype, but some how Green Flash pulls it off wonderfully. The sweet caramel malts of the American Red Ale style are certainly there, but they kept at bay and the hops shine through wonderfully. Highly recommended.

Serving type: bottle

05-06-2013 04:01:36 | More by flayedandskinned

BeerLab45

Virginia

4.26/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.25

Solid IPA deserving of the high scores here.
Very smooth for such a hoppy nectar.
Love the Amarillo dry hop.
Great mouthfeel which i prefer to be smooth.
Also a very interesting bottle shape which i like.
Too bad there are only 3 left in fridge...lol

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2013 22:23:22 | More by BeerLab45

Burkbom23

Connecticut

4.21/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

Deep amber color with dark red hues. Extremely cloudy, near opaque with bits of what i would assume is hope residue sediment floating around the glass from the dry hoping. Very large off white head with good retention. Lots of lacing that sticks all over the glass. Refreshing hoppy aroma. Lots of juicy citrus fruit notes. Quick hit up front on the pallette of caramel maltiness followed by fresh, bitter, pink grapefruit. Pretty fair amount of bitterness in the finish. Dry aftertaste. Medium body, little watery mouthfeel for the style. This is a good brew, on the bitter side but not overwhelming. Would definitly seek out again.

Serving type: bottle

05-01-2013 01:27:24 | More by Burkbom23

pkalix

California

4.26/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

beautiful dark red pour, nice tan head.
aroma is a tad floral, pine-y. a little citrus, a lot of hop.
taste is of the same and very smooth. nice, but more hop-py than i usually prefer. in training for the pliny....
medium body, some carbonation.
overall, decent. a very nice brew. the 7% seals the cause. green flash has some decent stuff.... except the saison, which tastes great but they left the alcohol out...

Serving type: bottle

04-29-2013 00:20:07 | More by pkalix

Jparker37

Wisconsin

4.66/5  rDev +20.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

12oz bottle poured into an oversized tulip. Bottled on 12.10.12

S - Piney, resiny hops foremost. Floral tones. Layer of mild caramel and toasty malt in the background.

A - Hazy dark amber beer with cherry colored highlights. Huge rocky tan head from a gentle pour. Solid amount of lacing.

T - Excellent balance here. I get some of that quick bitterness right up front. As I reach midway, toasty malt alongside some mellow chocolate flavors peak in. Hop flavor is all in there adding some pine and spiciness.

M - Medium body, medium-light carbonation, dry.

O - Would love to get this a little bit closer to the bottling date but the aroma still popped. Appearance follows the name appropriately. Taste was wonderfully complex and had great balance. Perfect feel. I judged this beer based on what I thought the brewer was trying to produce versus the American IPA style guidelines

Serving type: bottle

04-18-2013 01:35:04 | More by Jparker37

JG-90

New Jersey

4.26/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25

Bottle poured into glass gives a large khaki colored, creamy head. Beer is mainly brown in color, with hints of red and copper. Hazy with a small amount of floaties. Head slowly recedes to leave a bit of a rocky head, leaving heaving lacing down glass. Smell comes with both floral and piney hops, then sweet malt with a hint of citrus.

Taste follows that nose. Piney hops, floral hops, sweet and slightly roasty/nutty malt, ending with lemon and orange. Mouthfeel is creamy and heavy, with low carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

04-12-2013 00:57:05 | More by JG-90

BeardedBrewReview

Florida

4.34/5  rDev +11.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25

12oz bottle from a 4 pack. $5.99 on sale. 7% makes me happy. Poured into a standard American pint glass.

A: Nice dark red/brown color with a cream/tan head about a finger and a half thick. A little cloudy, but not unappealingly so.

S: American hops hit you right away. Piney, resiny, citrus smells backed with sweet and nutty malt. Very nice.

T: Hops shine on first sip. Resiny and bitter flavors followed with a sweet malt backbone. Malt is full of caramel and some slight nutty flavors.

M: For the color and style mouthfeel is perfect. Medium/medium-heavy body with medium carbonation. Finishes fairly dry.

O: Love this beer. I might actually enjoy this one better out of bottle than on tap. Mouthfeel perfectly matches amount of flavor. Finishes great. A good beer to start with - an IPA beforehand makes it much less balanced and enjoyable.

http://beardedbrewreview.blogspot.com/

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2013 14:40:31 | More by BeardedBrewReview

AdamGarcia

Pennsylvania

3.29/5  rDev -15.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.25

12oz btl served in Newcastle "Geordie Schooner" (crap beer but I love this glass). no freshness date on bottle

A: hazy deep red color. bright orange around the edges. a finger and a half of cream colored head sticks around for a while.

S: aroma is subdued. faint herbal hops and some caramel sweetness.

T: malt forward. caramel, some cocoa, leather. mostly herbal hop presence with a hint of pine. sweetness is tidied up nicely with some bitterness in the finish.

M: medium body. carbonation is smooth. easy to drink.

O: Ok. this beer isn't what I remember, although I think every time I've had this in the past it has been on tap. I'm assuming this one has too much age on it. It's actually not bad if it were just a big red ale or even an old ale...it reminds me of a slightly more bitter version of GD Hibernation. As a "red IPA", however, it falls short. This was given to me as a single. GF does date their cases so be on the lookout for a date if you are purchasing it in that format...for sixers and singles you've gotta hope to get lucky. I didn't this time around.

Serving type: bottle

04-03-2013 02:59:57 | More by AdamGarcia

guityler83

Wisconsin

4.31/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

A: A strong pour into a standard tulip glass resulted in a slow falling kacki colored head.
Dark hazy maroon appearance with an orangeish hugh when held to a light. Streaking vertical lacing

S: The nose is ripe with tropical fruits, melon, kiwi, strawberry. (amarillo?) some cattyness and pine hop arroma.

T: Strong pine and citrus bitterness right at the start. A few more sips reaveal a caramel malt backbone that compliment the bitterness nicely. catty and evergreen is detected also.

M: Moderate body, the bitterness leaves a bit of a mouth drying sensation but not astringent, maybe pallet shock? moderate carbonation

O: I'm a big fan of the bittering portion off this beer. The late addition/aroma hops are OK, but the aroma was lacking and no indication of the flavor.. though i kind of liked that. A solid IPA if you like IPAs, and if you like IPAs you wont trust my IPA review any way because you want to try more IPAs... like me Cheers!

Serving type: bottle

04-03-2013 01:47:51 | More by guityler83

Jake_Ramrod

Kentucky

3.95/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served from a bottle into a pint glass on Easter and watching a little basketball. Drinking it in honor of the Cardinals.

A: Very cloudy. Hazy red color. Lots of floaties. Nice reamy head and pretty good lacing and retention.

S: Sweet in th enose. A bit of citrus, too.

T: I really like red ales and this is a good representation of the class. This has alot of malty goodness that is balanced well with the amarillo hops. Tangy. Creamy. A bit bitter in the finish. Pretty darn good overall.

M: Oily.

O: A great beer. Not the best red ale, but an eaay to drink and quite tasty beer. I love beers that are malty and hoppy at the same time.

Serving type: bottle

03-31-2013 23:03:25 | More by Jake_Ramrod

patre_tim

China

3.94/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A: Cherry jello red mixed with a copper brown tinge, an astonishing amount of dark floating particles, 3 finger beige head. Foamy.

S: Citrus hops. Pine, malt, a little cereal malt. Fresh green pine and hops.

T: Bitter, caramel and molasses, but not overly sweet -just dark and malty.

M: Heavy syrupy, oily body. Medium carbonation.

O: Unique, great look, unique name, good taste, great company.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2013 01:38:07 | More by patre_tim

ShaunNewman

Florida

3.88/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A- dark ruby red. Off white head with moderate retention. Somewhat hazy, bottle conditioned.

S- medium high citrus hops with a medium high caramel background

T- medium high citrus hops with dark caramel and a hint of pine.

M- medium carbonation with medium body

O- Nicely balanced American amber

Serving type: bottle

03-28-2013 22:13:10 | More by ShaunNewman

JMScowcroft

Vermont

4.11/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Green Flash Brewing Co. - Green Flash Hop Head Red - Red IPA - 1pt 6fl oz bottle

Look - Pours like an unfiltered hazy dark reddish orange meal with a small soapy head that sits and takes a load off. Lacing abound.

Smell - Smells caramel, malty sweet with floral/resiny hop overtones.

Taste - Maltier than expected followed by smooth and red with a nice hop finish.

Mouthfeel - Smooth as butter with a hop kick, but fades rather sticky/oily. Decent but not great drinkability.

Overall - Not bad, good blend, worth a try. I can understand what they were going for here but not quite a bull's eye.

Serving type: bottle

03-28-2013 12:08:13 | More by JMScowcroft