Imperial Red Ale

by Michael Stein

I hate red beers. They are a testament to the average and boring. Red beers are the dregs that the inexperienced beer drinker reports as exotic. Despite this reputation I must sing the praises of the Lagunitas Brewing Company’s Imperial Red Ale for breaking the boring red mold.

Lagunitas’ Imperial Red declares on their bottle, “this Special Ale is, in reality, a reconstructed exhumation of the very first ale that we ever brewed way, way, way back in 1993.” Since being introduced to the Lagunitas Brewing Company’s beers a few short summers ago, I have witnessed their distribution grow. Founded in 1993, the
company relocated from Lagunitas to Petaluma, California. And as I have seen their selection grow at many east-coast distributors, so too have I witnessed their myth spread. Many claims have been passed down via word-of-mouth, however all hyperbole becomes unnecessary when one tastes their beer. Roland Barthes, French cultural theorist, would
have found fascinating the myth that Lagunitas has created.

In Mythologies Barthes discusses how red wine became the national drink of the French people, the drink for every occasion. It is cooling in the summer months and warming in the winter. But by definition a drink cannot encompass two opposite descriptions. This is analogous to the myth surrounding Lagunitas and their flagship IPA (India Pale Ale).

According to the IRI (Industrial Research Institute) Lagunitas Brewing Company’s IPA is the best-selling IPA in the state of California. In a state riddled with craft-breweries, the majority of whom offer their own take on an IPA, this is no small feat. However, I grow uneasy calling Lagunitas’ most well-known beer their best beer. This is
where my taste differs from most, for me their Imperial Red is their best beer, and if it were not a seasonal offering I would drink it year-round. According to their website its next approximate release will be in August 2009.

On the bottom of the six-pack another message appears. “We often describe our ales as having the luxuriant aromas of broccoli, kerosene, and burning tractor tires while bragging about their stagnant and pond-water flavors.” Further down, “[R]ed is a color, not a beer—and while the taste buds want what the taste buds want, you cannot taste a color.” Aside from the tongue in cheek, there is greater irony in that every Red Ale I’ve ever had has not been red, but a dark brown color.

Lagunitas’ Imperial Red pours with a medium head, and as the glass fills the head spreads thin. Little bubbles of carbonation pop up and float atop the head. The first taste is indeed high gravity. Kerosene, broccoli, however you want to phrase it, this beer has bite! The second sip takes me from bitter to sweet; rich, robust caramel and toffee tones bring the palate back to pleasure. But by the third sip it’s back to bitter. This beer is truly bizarre!

The mouthfeel has an odd level of lightness, it must be the 84.2 IBUs (International Bitterness Units) that makes this beer so balanced. The beer is very well-hopped, just by smelling it, the nose picks up a rich floral bouquet. This is out of the ordinary for a Red Ale, as the Irish Red traditionally relies on roasted barley. Most Irish Reds or Red Ales tend to have stronger barley and malt palates and less bite or bitterness. As I swill the brew in my cheeks, “whirl pooling” the beer, I pick up some sweet creamy notes. These notes dissipate as the high gravity ale goes down the gullet. The flavor is like a Tale of Two Tastes.

If Charles Dickens had this beer in Victorian England, there would have been much more fighting and far less writing. The Lagunitas Imperial Red is surely a Dickensian-beer. While this flavor is crafted for an Adirondack chair on vacation, its 7.8% ABV (Alcohol by Volume) would be sure to have the most seasoned London pub dwellers red-in-the-face after a few pints of Imperial Red.