Green Flash Pt. 3: Hop Head Red Ale

 

(A studious beer? Reading a 1918 classic:  

The Fanny Farmer Cookbook)

With a very rich copper tone that's almost ruby in some light, the Green Flash Hop Head Red Ale is a real classy lady. Well-balanced, complex, but not fussy. Brewed with dry hopped caramel Amarillo malt, it'a 6.4% ABV, with 45 IBUs. It's much more down to earth than Le Freak or the West Coast IPA that One Woman wrote about in the last two days. Not overpowered by hops, it smells of moist malt, resin, autumn leaves after a light rain, a hint of ocean breeze, and maybe, just maybe a memory of anise. 

Thinking of all those tinny, metallic, red ales on the market (yuck) One woman was concerned that red ale wouldn't go well with food (or with life, for that matter). Not to worry! This versatile red ale, which actually might be a young IPA in disguise (!) went quite nicely with a pretty salad of shaved candy striped beets and almonds with a lemon-shallot vinaigrette. 

The musical pairing of the evening is Billie Holiday–so refined, elegant, and complex in her music. Have you listened to her interpretation of Duke Ellington's "Solitude"? Lady Day--How can you sing about "solitude" and be so warm and uplifting at the same time, all the while, holding on to every word and emotion so carefully? 

And that does it for the three-part Green Flash series. Thanks for tuning in to One Woman, One Beer. Tomorrow she will report back with a new theme and new surprise. Will she go with a Belgian? A golden lager? Or... or...