Here’s one of Ohio’s best kept secrets: Thirsty Dog Scarlet O’Hoppy India Pale Ale. At least, there’s no mention of it on the Thirsty Dog web page in the beers section. According to the Beer Blog on Ohio.com it was first released in bottles in September of 2016, and I got my hand on one last December. I drank it in March. The blog mentions Cascades, Citras and Mosaics as hops used here.

I didn’t really get the tropical fruit notes associated with Mosaics here, but I did let the beer age in one of my beer fridges about 4 months or so before drinking, which may have allowed the citrus hops to takeover. Resiny citrusy hops are my preference anyway, but most of the tasting notes I’ve read on this beer seem to emphasize the Cascade and Citra notes over the Mosaics.

From the label:

This IPA invites you in with bright citrus notes that fall off into an earthy backdrop.

Not really how I would describe the beer but there you go. Thirsty Dog Scarlet O’Hoppy India Pale Ale has an alcohol content of 6.3% by volume with 63 IBUs.

Thirsty Dog Scarlet O’Hoppy India Pale Ale pours to a cloudy orange color with a thick creamy head and a big citrusy grapefruit nose. Taking a sip, the beer has a firm caramel maltiness followed by more of that wonderful luscious grapefruit peel and pith, then a little resiny pine, and finally a long dry medium bitterness in the finish.

A wonderful beer, IPA as I like it with MALT and classic hop character. What’s that you say? You would rather have one of those new-fangled, namby pamby fruit loop IPAs? Frankly, Scarlet, I don’t give a damn.

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