Atlanta's Modest Alehouse: Red Brick Brewing

Sampled: March 29-30, 2012

Red Brick Brewery in Atlanta might be the Southeast’s most under-the-radar craft brewer, even though it only follows Louisiana's Abita in age. They produce 15 ales with some surprising experimental seasons mixed in. Red Brick pushes the boundaries of brewing in different ways. The brewer aspires to stay regional, shifting its lineup as it runs against its 10,000-barrel capacity.

They don’t distribute outside the southeast, stopping at north at North Carolina and west at Louisiana. At a recent tasting, I got to know the Atlanta brewer’s wares a little better. The wine store sold them for more than two years, but I never gave them a chance.

How wrong I was to ignore them. Hoplanta produces a solid citrus body with squirts of lemon and a bitter finish of grapefruit. Some pine resin and hints of spruce tips emerge in that same complex finish. Let us call this take a workingman’s IPA. Hoplanta never seeks the bitter heights of Stone or any of the myriad brewers doubling down on IPA. But it succeeds on its own merits, and could appeal to a non-hophead audience.

While their low-alcohol Laughing Skull might be their flagship brew, Red Brick's high-alcohol superstar is its Porter, a specimen rich with fingers of chocolate, oatmeal and toffee. The body has succulent tinges of tobacco and oil. Those flavors never cross the line into stouts. If it weren’t 7.7 percent ABV, it could be poured everyday. At $8, a four-pack goes a long way and offers one of the best values in dark craft ale.

Their Brick Mason series takes some interesting curves into homebrewing levels of innovation. Vanilla Gorilla blends hickory-smoked Madagascar vanilla beans with a barred-aged porter. The results amaze. The smoke rises up more than the beans and only a delectable vanilla afterglow remains. It reminds me of the amazing Stone Smoked Porter infused with vanilla beans I sampled in Las Vegas. The vanilla never tops the flavor profile, but the smoke and the barrel influence stake out new ground for porter.After the two porters sampled here, I can’t wait to see what else Red Brick can conjure up.

For its 16th Anniversary Ale, Red Brick left a double brown ale in Jack Daniels barrels for one year. Elements of the corn whiskey seep into the beer during its long, dark journey. By going with a simpler base beer, Red Brick gives the anniversary beer more legs than it would have if they used darker, heavier ale. Brick Mason also offers a Double IPA, which finds surprising balance among its five hops (Apollo, Bravo, Columbus, Cascade and Centennial). Not my typical libation, but the Double IPA rewards the senses.

Red Brick releases an excellent array of dark beers,and proves to be no slouch when branching into hoppier styles. Their Brick Mason series and excellent porter have left me eager for their saison and future limited-edition brews.