Name: Red Rubies
Brewer: The Marc’s & Tony Brewing Co. (Philippines)
Style: Fruit and Spice Beer (Base Style: American IPA)
ABV: 6.5%
Review Year: 2021
Red Rubies is one of the latest beers released by Tony Sindayen of The Marc’s & Tony Brewing Co. This fruity IPA was brewed with Yellow Sub hops, lactose, vanilla beans, and is loaded with ripe and juicy strawberries.
STYLE GUIDELINES
This beer is being evaluated as a Fruit and Spice Beer (29B) with the American IPA (21A) as the base style in the context of the 2015 Beer Style Guidelines of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). The most current version of the guidelines can be found on the BJCP website.
TASTING NOTES
Ruby red color with slight haziness; medium-low head. A strawberry aroma was the most notable scent (albeit moderately low) and was followed by a hint of pineapple. Medium-bodied; fairly low carbonation with a subtle sticky fruit juice quality. Juicy strawberry dominated the flavor profile with moderate resiny and low lime peel impressions that followed. Malt backbone was supportive: mainly bready with accents of caramel and toast. Bitterness was moderate while residual sweetness was fairly high. A contrasting bright orange/ dalandan citrus and the familiar strawberry lingered into the aftertaste.
THE VERDICT
Red Rubies is a delightful, moderately bitter IPA that brilliantly highlights juicy strawberries from the appearance all the way to flavor. The American IPA was used as the closest base style to benchmark this beer and not the New England IPA due mainly to the notable low caramel-like and toasty malt backbone and the distinct “West Coast” resinous hop character.
As a Fruit and Spice Beer, Red Rubies was dominated by strawberry for the most obvious reasons, but its sweetness was most likely from the lactose as sugars in fruits are fermentable. In our opinion, the sweetness felt appropriate and not cloying, ultimately in harmony with the bitterness. Likewise, the perceived strawberry flavor tasted natural and did not come off as medicinal or cough syrup-like. Vanilla, however, was not as explicit, so more of that and maybe a more intense aroma profile could make this beer much more enjoyable. Very good.
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The Marc’s & Tony Brewing Co.
Craft Beer from the Philippines
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