Evening Bite by Side A Brewing

Earthy-piney aroma. Caramel with a bit of chew. Cuts off with a sharp hop finish, notes of orange juice and peel finishing with an earthy bitterness. 3.75/5 stars.

Red ales (Irish Red, American Amber, Red IPA) hold a fond place in my heart. Not quite as malt-forward as a dark beer, not as hoppy as an IPA. Likely to pair well with most activities and foods (although you need to watch the alcohol levels, this style might sneak up on you!). More definitive in flavor than a brown ale, more complex than a pale ale. They strike a great balance! For me, they were also a gateway into the hoppy side of the beer world.

I didn’t like IPAs when I started drinking beer. In my book, lagers were fine, wheat beers were better, and low-IBU (International Bitterness Units, a measurement of bitterness from hops) dark beers. Dark beers, specifically stouts and porters, were really what got me into craft beer. I had developed a taste for black coffee in my early adulthood (read about my start with coffee here), so the flavors of dark chocolate and coffee that came from dark-roasted malt were an easy transition into beer in that respect. The more dark beers I drank, the more I could appreciate differences in their crafting. Thin to thick mouthfeel, dry to sweet finishes, a light or heavy hand on the dark malts. The beers could range from a crisp cup of joe to viscous chocolate syrup. Incredible! I knew that I was only scratching the surface of the beer world, but this black-brown microcosm seemed to have near-infinite depth.

Enter the Irish Red Ale. Low bitterness, dry to slightly sweet malt with caramel notes. None of the coffee or chocolate flavors of a dark beer, sure, but still malt-forward with hops playing a supporting role. Once I got used to the profile, I started branching out further. American Amber Ale had similar malt characteristics, but more hops. It took some time, but I eased my way into it and worked from the lower- to higher-hopped offerings. By this point, I was ready to try out the paler end of the spectrum too. Not standard IPAs, not yet. But citrusy pale ales, white IPAs, and golden ales were all fair game now. The saga continued as I started discovering that I liked certain hoppy beers after sufficient exposure. The final unlock came from taking a chance on Red IPAs. The malt base, again, was familiar. The hop profile was bolder, brasher, more aggressive than I was used to however. It took time and determination, but I got there! Not much longer after that, I branched out into the rest of the IPA family, hoppy lagers, sour and wild ales, and more. Now, it was time to really get down to business and discover what else was out there!

Evening Bite by Side A Brewing