Mar 18, 2014

Sunken City Brewing Red Clay IPA

Any one who’s lived in the inland Virginia area long enough has had to dig some sort of hole at some point in their tenure. Whether it was for work, home improvement or just the sheer joy of digging a hole, you’ve been there — knee deep in sticky, hard Virginia red clay. The stuff is every where. It’s unavoidable.

I suppose Sunken City Brewing may have chosen the name in the hopes that Red Clay IPA, a 7% ABV India Pale Ale, would be just as readily available and as pervasive.

Well, it’s not all that hard to find now that the company (and just about every other VA brewery) is getting decent distribution. Sunken City also nailed the name of this beer by matching it’s appearance with the color that your boots invariably end up after working the ground — a reddish, copperish amber. Unfortunately, this can of Red Clay IPA also carried with it a mineral character that does more harm than good.

Appearance

Dark, reddish amber in color with a frothy crown of khaki foam.

Sunken City Brewing Red Clay IPA photo

Aroma

Caramel, bready malt, light sweetness, pine, soft resin and grapefruit combine for a balanced nose.

Taste

An overly minerally character presides throughout each swallow as caramel, bread, toasted malt and grapefruit arrive smoothly. A light malt sweetness gives way to a moderate level of hop bitterness that lingers nicely in the semi-dry and surprisingly warming finish. The beer’s carbonation is fairly active and helps push those hop flavors around.

Overall

All in all, Red Clay IPA is a nicely balanced IPA, but that mineral note was a bit much to try and ignore. It lingers softly along with the hop tingle and ultimately takes away from what is otherwise a decent beer. I’m planning on picking up another few cans to see if it was just a one time thing or not and will update this review then.

Rating: 3.25/5

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