Dinner Jacket O’Red IPA — Arch Brewing Co.

Hey, did you read my post yesterday, about the explosion of new brewers out there? Well, Arch is in that cohort, but is definitely one doing things well.  Partnered with Paul Dickey, and making their beer on contract at Welly, they are taking the act of making great beer seriously.

Arch Brewing Co. Dinner Jacket O'Red IPA

Dinner Jacket O’Red IPA — Arch Brewing Co.

From a 473ml tallboy, Dinner Jacket O’Red IPA pours a tawny brown, with brilliant red in the centre. A dense creamy 1.5″ head dropped to a sticky layer of foam that left a good deal of lacing.  Aroma is big juicy hops with notable sweet tropical fruitiness, and sweet toffee malts.  Taste is immediately quite bitter, with a tannic astringency, followed by pine and citrus notes.  The malts still show a bit of toffee and sweetness, but the hops are the main player in the flavour profile.  Woah, this is really quite bitter.  Just chewing it over in my mouth, and I’m noticing a nearly squeaky resinous hop linger.  It’s not big and brash; it kind of sneaks up on you, but it is a very bitter IPA.  Definitely nice citrus peel and hints of tropicals like pineapple.  Based on the aroma, I would assume there are some new-world hops adding that spectacular fruitiness, though I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the bittering hop was an English variety.  With the mouthfeel on the light side of medium, this beer remains quite sessionable, but is assertive enough to go up against your spicy curries and fatty fish and chips.  Man, I really wish I was eating fish and chips with this. I would also love to try it on draught, though I’m not sure if it is available as such.

I will admit, the Dinner Jacket reference (which I always think of as a Kenora Dinner Jacket) made me expect this to be a lightweight beer to appeal to would-be craftbeer converts. It is not. The balance and execution mean this isn’t just a beer for hop-heads, but they certainly won’t dislike it. For sure a beer I will be seeking out again!

Cheers to the crew at Arch. Well done on a great first beer!

Buy Dinner Jacket O’Red IPA

Now at the LCBO (#369330), if your local shop doesn’t have it, ask them to get it in!

Drink it with

Like I said, I would love it with my fish dinner, but it would also do well with the usual IPA/curry combo.  I just had an interesting cheese from the cheese savants at Monforte. It had fenugreek seeds in it, and was caramelly with the fragrance from the spice.  I think it would play up the malts a bit, and go really well (though I already ate it all with friends, so can’t confirm that assertion).

About the brewery

We’re aiming to be a proud and loving reflection of Ontario culture, quirks and all. We feel that the best medicine, besides beer, is to be able to laugh at ones’ self. We hope to create beers that feel comfortably at home here and maybe could come from nowhere else.

http://www.archbrewing.ca/
@ArchBrewingCo

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