This Week On Tap: Scarlet Lane’s Absolem IPA

By Adam Schick for Indiana On Tap 

In the Christian Bible, there’s a story about a man named Absalom. Absalom was the third son of David, the king of Israel (he was kind of a big deal). See, Absalom was your stereotypical son of a king: tall, strong, charming, and the envy of aristocrats and paupers alike. He was a bit of a braggart, and loved all the pomp and circumstance that came with being born into royalty. A very handsome man, Absalom travelled in a gilded chariot with 50 men running ahead of him to herald his coming. Not a bad entrance, right?

Now, Absalom was also a bit of an asshole, as sons of royalty go you know? At one point, Absalom called on his men to murder the man guilty of raping his sister while this man, Amnon, was drunk at a party. Vigilante justice, while kind of common, was not the law of the time, so off to Talmai he ran to hide behind his grandfather for a few years. After a while, he was reinstated in his father’s favor and home he came.

Trouble didn’t end there though (I mean, does it ever?!?). Absalom, growing weary of being David’s third son with nary a hope of wearing his father’s crown one day, began to slowly and quietly turn on his father. See, as average Joes like ourselves would have our requests to the king turned down, Absalom would pull the subjects aside and whisper to them (and I’m only paraphrasing a touch here), “Bro, what was THAT all about? You know, if I was king, I’d totally get you an extension on this month’s taxes. Think about THAT.”

Eventually (four years in the Bible goes pretty fast) Absalom declared himself king and rose against his father. Israel came running and Absalom, in his wisdom, split for the Jordan River, not willing to face a fight with little backup. David’s men eventually caught up with the wayward son and, when his beautiful head got comically lodged in the branches of a tree, Joab, David’s general, ran him through with three arrows.

A beautiful, handsome, charming figure that will turn on you quickly if you’re not careful. That’s kind of how I’d describe Scarlet Lane Brewing’s newest IPA, the similarly titled Absolem. 

Okay okay okay so it’s not the exact same name, and for all I know they named it after the strung out caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland, but I needed a story that would lead into how AWESOME this beer is. And how quickly, at an almost 8.0%, this delicious beer can turn on you… 

Absolem IPA was first tapped a few weeks ago at the McCordsville brewery but, by virtue of working downtown, I missed it. Thankfully the great team at Tomlinson Tap Room had my back and I was able to return four nights within one week to have it in their City Market bar, as well as take a bullet for my home fridge. 

Absolem pours a deep rusty orange, and has that dank nose characteristic of IPAs from the Northwest, of which it shares a similar hop base. There’s a really nice citrus feel to it, and it’s very easy to lose sight of the fact that this big IPA will overthrow you if you’re not careful!  This is a great IPA with big flavor, and is my favorite beer the good people at Scarlet Lane have ever made, hands down. 

Get some Absolem wherever you can and enjoy its beauty, but keep an eye on yourself… 

Happy Friday, friends. Enjoy your Labor Day! 

You can follow Adam on Twitter at @Adam_On_Tap