Beer of the Week: Ale Spike’s MicRO Red, for regular customer

MicRO Red

Ale Spike Bottles &Taps, Stanwood, and Camano Island Brewing, Camano Island

Style: Session red ale

Stats: 4.5 percent ABV, 40 IBU

Available: On tap at Ale Spike Bottles &Taps.

My thoughts: For the past three years since opening their taproom and bottleshop in Stanwood, Chris and Lyna Pepper have been stocking their shelves and tapping kegs of some of the world’s best beer.

Now, beer Chris is brewing sits on the same tap list.

A few months ago, Chris started brewing just down the road from the bottleshop in a 13,000-square-foot brewery on Camano Island. He’s brewed about six batches, including an IPA, pale ale, porter and this sessionable red. All four beers have been on tap at the brewery, and the Peppers poured three of them at the Anderson School Brewfest last weekend.

Chris started homebrewing in 2004, but had never brewed on a commercial scale until he started brewing on the four-barrel system he purchased from Colorado Brewing Systems earlier this year. Currently he said he’s brewing just over two-barrel batches since his fermenters are only sized for three-barrel batches.

Admittedly, Chris said he’s still trying to dial in the recipes for the beers he’s producing. He said his first batch of New Life IPA, the whole cone hops got stuck in the whirlpool, making the beer overly bitter without the nuanced hop flavor. That said, the beer was popular with Ale Spike customers and sold out fast.

The ABV of the other beers came in under what Chris was expecting from the original gravity readings, or the amount of dissolved solids like sugars in the liquid prior to the addition of yeast. In fact, the MicRO Red borrows its name from the effect. Originally to be named for a regular customer with the initials R.O., Chris changed the name to MicRO Red after it came in about 2 percent lower ABV than he expected.

The beer pours an opaque dark red and could be easily confused with a brown. The beer itself is light but not thin. There’s some impurities with the flavors, but a good malt structure that doesn’t overpower the hops makes the beer a true red. Chris said he’s still working on the recipe and knows that the next batch will likely taste and look different than the first.

The beer Chris and Lyna are most proud of so far is Chris’ Northwest Porter. Brewed to emulate a classic porter, the Northwest Porter is well balanced, with a slight hop flavor shadowing the roasty, chocolate flavor of the grain and malts. It’s a good beer and shows off Chris’ potential as a brewer.

The Peppers will be pouring all four beers this weekend, including the tapping of the newest version of New Life IPA at Friday’s Hoppy Ales and Happy Tails event, a fundraiser for The NOAH Center, an animal shelter in Stanwood. Chris used different hops this time, including Magnum and Falconer’s Flight, in hopes of making it more balanced, as well as Simcoe lupulin powder in the boil and to dry hop the beer.

The Hoppy Ales and Happy Tails event was born from Chris and Lyna’s love for dogs. The couple have three rescue dogs and The NOAH Center, which is dedicated to stopping the euthanasia of healthy dogs and cats, is close to their heart. A portion of the sales of any Ale Spike beer Friday night will go directly to the Northwest Organization for Animal Help.

From the brewery: Session red ale light on ABV but big on malty flavor and balanced bitterness.

More new releases:

The Goods, At Large Brewing: Hazy and full-flavored, this Northeast-style IPA is made with Chinook, Mosaic and Simcoe hops. Available on tap at the brewery.