Hardknott Infra Red – 3rd Place, GBBH 2013

Appearance: 4.0; Aroma: 7.0; Mouthfeel: 4.5; Flavour: 7.5; Total: 23.0

I was pleased to see Hardknott (now sadly closed) in the list of this year's beers, because I'm something of a fan. If nothing else, you can be fairly confident that they're never going to release a boring, bland, feeble golden ale with a couple of Cascade hops waved over the bottle.

Infra Red is a 6.2% ABV "oxymoronic IPA"; it's nice to see the folk at Hardknott embracing my own discomfort with the overuse of the term "IPA" to cover every shade of beer under the sun.

It's certainly red; a gorgeous, deep dark red with a deep, foam-filled head that makes fitting the whole bottle into the glass a challenge, despite being one of the few 330ml bottles in the collection.

The nose is heavy with American hops – more leaf and resin than floral citrus – with a hint of alcohol, a touch of maltiness and a faint orange fruitiness.

In the mouth, a nice caramel sweetness greets the tip of the tongue along with some alcohol heat. A slightly plummy dark fruit tone then comes in and slowly yields to a long lasting, faintly citrus, bitter finish that just keeps growing in your mouth even after you've swallowed.

Quite, quite magnificent and something that deserves to be permanently in any self-respecting beer cupboard – 4.5 stars.

Many thanks to Sainsbury's for providing samples of the GBBH beers.

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This review was originally published 28th September, 2013. It was last updated 1st June, 2023.