For The Love Of Red IPA’s (and Scarlet Lane’s Vivian)

By Writing & Reporting Community Member Rick Burkhardt

Years ago, before I finally understood the wide complexity of hops and became a lover of IPA’s, I was an English ale devotee. I loved the malty though not overly sweet beer. But much later I started to enjoy hoppy beers, and since then, seeking out beers with a nice mix of the hops/grains components, at least for me, seemed only natural.

I suppose that is why I became a fan of Red IPA’s. I get the malty backbone of an English ale plus the differing hops flavors and aromas from the IPA. Not really drinking by numbers – the malt first and the hops second – but rather a splendid mix of both qualities. Red IPA’s still are not very common so if I happen upon one on tap or I see it on the bottle shop shelves, I will usually buy it. There are a few good ones out there, but sadly there are just not that many found in Indiana.  

Rye IPA’s, which carry a significant amount of rye malt, are becoming increasingly more popular but should not be confused with the reds. There are White IPA’s, which are not a personal favorite. And then there are Black IPA’s, which have passed the others by in being the popular sibling of the bunch, as red IPA’s will continue to be the red-headed…well, you know what I mean.

So what to do locally? I turned to Scarlet Lane Brewing in McCordsville, who brews up one of my favorites beers across all styles, Vivian Red IPA. I’m in the midst of home brewing my third consecutive red IPA batch with differing degrees of success (failure), so I sought out more information on red IPA’s and how to capture just what I wanted. And honest: I really wasn’t trying to steal some secrets about Vivian – yeah, and Led Zeppelin never stole music – but using that as a benchmark seemed like a smart thing to do.

In brewing a red IPA, I found that balancing the flavor appears to be a very difficult task. Giving the recipe a husky malt base (I use Maris Otter) and using others grains provides a nice flavorful base, and using several hop varieties works with the malt to bring it back into a pleasing balance.

As I’ve also found, tuning in just the right color of reds is also a bit tricky. Whether you want that really deep ruby red or just the right amount of a lighter red/amber color, whichever you prefer, it is harder than you think.

Now back to Scarlet Lane. Co-owner Nick Servies talked to me recently about “Vivian” and why they chose a red IPA as one of their flagship beers over a traditional IPA. Doing something different than what everyone else was doing was part of the decision, as well as not wanting to leave someone in a humulus-induced coma. A nicely balanced beer with a lot of complexity was what they were after, however, as Nick shared, “they’re just a pain in the ass to make.”

Since Scarlet Lane opened in May of 2014, Nick said that Vivian has undergone several minor tweaks along the way until they’ve become pretty well satisfied with where she is now. (I told you it was hard!) Several different grains work in concert together like a multi-instrument band rather than fighting against each other for attention. A base of two-row leads off the malt bill which is followed up with Caramalt, Patagonia, Munich II, Midnight Wheat and a very tiny dose of pale rye malt. This provides a great deal of complexity to this beer while capturing the perfect color.

Additionally, Nick shared that the hop bill of Vivian includes Cascade, Columbus, Centennial, Chinook, Apollo and Nugget.

It’s interesting to note though, that while IPA’s remain the most popular style across the American craft beer market, the many faces of their “Dorian” stout is Scarlet Lane’s top selling beer. And if you’ve had the very popular summertime coconut version, you might agree it’s not so surprising after all.

If you haven’t tried red IPA’s – maybe you see them as contradictory – but love IPA’s in general, I recommend you giving them a chance. And while you’re at it, look for some Scarlet Lane Vivian around town or in the taproom…or perhaps freshly brewed at my house.

Rick Burkhardt is the Indy Beer Sleuth. You can reach him by email and follow him on Twitter at @IndyBeerSleuth