By Mike Jurewicz
In the ever popular world of IPAs, the Red IPA hasn’t gotten as much love as it’s hazy or bitter counterparts, and that’s a shame. Luckily in Boynton Beach the Red IPA (a slight oxymoron as the P in IPA stands for pale) has found a loving home as a year round staple at Copperpoint Brewing in the form of the A-10 Hop Hog.
The naming of A-10 Hop Hog comes from, co-owner, Al Lettera’s grandfather’s time spent as an engineer on the original A-10 Thunderbolt II (nicknamed Warthog) aircraft. Not one to pass up the opportunity for an unused hop pun, the Warthog nickname was adjusted to Hop Hog and a beer name was born. This homage is followed through even further with the iconic plane’s presence, shark teeth and all, on the label of A-10 cans.
How does a Red IPA differ from the rest? Red IPAs look to combine the characteristics of red ales and IPAs resulting in a very malty and very hoppy beer all wrapped up in a nice red appearance. This deep ruby colored beauty is solely dry hopped with Mosaic hops that helps impart tropical notes of grapefruit, passionfruit and mango in the aroma and taste. A mildly toasty and caramel malt backbone balances out the hop character and in the process creates a sort of candied fruit flavor. This combination lends it to being quite a nice cold weather beer but it’s not like you get many of those in Florida. That is not to say that it doesn’t hit the spot on a more typical hot, humid day. It’s dry, slightly bitter finish can attest to that. Despite clocking in at 7% alcohol by volume, it doesn’t not have much of a boozy kick to it.
Pairing this beer up with food offers many options because of the maltiness and hoppiness. A burger can be a safe bet but the introduction of some grilled onions and a funky blue cheese can add some extra layers of flavor to complement one another. Seafood can be a great option to pair with as well. A honey and orange glazed salmon would work wonderfully. For dessert I would look at spiced cakes like carrot cake or ginger cake. You could even go a bit more sweet with a caramel apple tart or some poached pears, maybe even using some of the beer in the poaching.
A-10 Hop-Hog can be found on draft and in 6 packs of cans at Copperpoint’s Boynton Beach taproom and in select bars, restaurants, grocery stores and liquor stores throughout South Florida.
151 Commerce Road, Boynton Beach, FL 33426
