Beer of the week: Everett Massacre IRA
Published 1:30 am Friday, November 4, 2016
Everett Massacre IRA
Middleton Brewing, Everett; Sound to Summit, Snohomish
Style: Imperial India Red Ale
Stats: 8.0 percent ABV, 55 IBU
Available: On tap at both breweries
My thoughts: Neither Geoff Middleton, owner and head brewer at Everett’s Middleton Brews, nor Grady Warnock, head brewer at Snohomish’s Sound to Summit Brewing, have much interest in deep Everett history. So it’s a little strange that they’re the brains behind a beer paying homage to the Everett Massacre.
The connection is a young man named Marshall Carlson. Carlson, whose dad is a teacher at Stanwood High School, works brewing beer at both Middleton and Sound to Summit. He is interested in history and thought it would be a good idea to brew a beer to honor the upcoming 100-year anniversary.
So, Middleton and Warnock, who have brewed two other collaboration beers in the past, put their heads together. They first thought a blood orange IPA would be more fitting for the “bloody massacre,” but found procuring enough blood oranges too difficult. So they moved to grapefruit to give the beer the red appearance.
Because Middleton eschews all puréed fruit for his adjuncts (don’t get him started), Middleton and Warnock spent two hours peeling and chopping 50 pounds of grapefruits to add to a base imperial IPA that included Victory malts and a diverse hop profile of Citra, Cascade, Zythos, Mandarina Bavaria and Simcoe hops.
The beer itself pours more of muddy brown than a red. It’s a strong beer with a decent malt backbone despite the simplified malt profile. The grapefruit is very impactful at the finish. It’s a little astringent, but if you dig grapefruit, you’ll love this beer.
Overall, the beer is a fitting tribute to the Everett Massacre, which pitted organized labor and the law. There’s no doubt the men on the docks back in 1916 would be happy to tip back a few pints of this beer, so do it for them.
Both Middleton Brewing and Sound to Summit will host a release party for the beer on Saturday.
From the brewery: A collaboration beer brewed for the 100th anniversary of the Everett massacre. A bold imperial ale with a complex and malty body, citrus aroma and bitter grapefruit finish.
More new releases:
Oslo Wow-Wow, Foggy Noggin Brewing: Brewed in the olde Scottish traditional manner, Oski Wow-Wow is made with patience and love for the founders of this delicious beer style. Toffee and caramel flavors. Available at the brewery.
Midnight Rye’d, American Brewing: Roasty and hoppy, this black IPA is a test batch of the brewery’s upcoming winter seasonal.
Available at the brewery.
Focused and Gene Pool DIPA, Skookum Brewery: Focused, a Belgian-inspired spelt saison brewed with pink peppercorns and refermented on whole/fresh mango. Crisp, mildly tart, fruity and peppery spice. Gene Pool Double IPA is brewed with flaked rye and hopped intensely with mosaic, simcoe and nugget. Massive tropical, dank and piney citrus aromas. Both available at the brewery.
— Aaron Swaney, Special to The Herald
