Iron House Portside Red Ella Red Ale

The worlds very first Ocean Aged Matched Boilermaker. Let us introduce the second component to our ‘Ocean-Aged Matched Boilermaker’ – the BEER. Or in this case the Iron House Portside Red Ella Red Ale in MASSIVE 440ml cans.

Now Iron House make some sensational beers but the Red Ale is Iron House’s most popular beer. Now ‘our’ Red Ella has a little something extra – namely 6 weeks aging in one of the barrels that the ‘Portside’ whisky came out of before going into the can. You can tell ours are different because each 440ml can has our SMWC logo on it, and Iron House have bumped the abv up just a notch over normal to 5.2%abv.

And, let’s face it – where else BUT the SMWC are you going to get a matched-pair like this!?

You probably know this but a bit of Beer101. Two main families of beer – Lagers (like XXXX, VB. Corona) and Ales (most Coopers, IPAs, Tooheys Old, and probably most of the ‘beers you’ve had on tap in a pub somewhere in England’). Lagers are ‘top fermented’ (usually in warmer climates) and Ales are ‘bottom fermented’ (and prefer cooler climates for production as a rule).

Now Red Ale – as the name suggests – refers to a beer that is red in colour. That colour comes mainly from the malt used in the brewing process. A ‘Pale Ale’ – that we are all probably familiar with – is brewed on a lighter, paler coloured malt – which gives it a light, bright golden colour. On the other end of the spectrum, a ‘Stout’ is brewed on dark, roasted malts which produce that intense, impenetrable inky black.

So, put simply, a ‘Red-Ale tends to have a higher percentage of roasted malt than a pale ale – but not quite as much as stout. They range in colour from light copper thorough ruby-red to deep red-browns. As far as hops go, a Red Ale sits on the higher end of ‘hoppiness scale’ too. And in the case of the ‘Red Ella, this is a story in itself.

Originally, the Red Ella was intended to be brewed for a Hops Festival close to Iron House. They had planned for, and ordered fresh-off-the-vine ‘Galaxy’ hops especially for this one-off brew. So they set the malt wash up to ferment, and off set Spillzy to grab them. (in case you’re unaware- hops are added to beer wash in the end-stags of brewing). So Spillzy drives three hours (each way) to grab the hops, and is almost home when he gets a call from a frantic Hops grower – ‘we’ve given you the wrong hops’.

So the ‘Galaxy’ hops Spillzy thought he had in the ute turned out to be ‘Ella’ hops – intended for another brewery mistakenly given to Iron House. And so – with the beer brew already underway enough that another 6-hour delay was impossible – they made the only choice possible in the circumstances and went with the Ella’ hops.

Look, I’m not a professional beer reviewer so I’ll keep this easy. If you’re used to XXXX or VB etc (‘typical aussie lagers’ – and the staple at most BBQ’s) – this is a much creamier beer for a start. It has a much fuller body of flavours as well.  It’s also much maltier – with lots of fruit notes as well.

The astringency of the Ella Hops is nicely tempered by the fruity creaminess, leaving a pine-ey note but without any bitterness. Its also less carbonated than most lagers so doesn’t leave you (me) feeling bloated after one or two as do most beers. So I guess three words sum this beer up – sweeter, creamier, less gassy.

What I can say for sure is that the Portside Red Ella is a perfect partner for sipping on the Iron House Portside Ocean Aged Whisky. The worlds first ‘Ocean Aged Matched Boilermaker’.

Aged in port cast whisky barrels that once braved the Tasman Sea on the Tasmanian abalone boat MV Maverick, this red ale is as wild as the weather it faced. Infused with our Tasman Whisky bold spirit. This malt-driven red ale was created to be matched with our Portside single malt whisky release.

With notes of golden syrup, a pinch of apricot and Tassie Ella Hop pine on the pallet, the barrel char and whisky sweetness forge a biscuity, earthy ale that’s as indomitable taste of the Iron House spirit.