Founded in 1987, this Milwaukee brewery helped establish craft beer in a city home to some very large brewers, as well as the rest of Wisconsin.

Fixed Gear, like its bike courier namesakes, is the sort of indispensably solid classic that will always be hip! Now branded as an American Red IPA, reflecting the current beer market, this was formally simply called an American Red Ale. In 2012, it took home the silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival for American-style Amber/Red Ale. The beer hasn’t changed, it is the same lovely hop forward beer with a rich malt base it’s always been. All that’s shifted is how beer people try to categorize this wonderful creation.

Aroma: Medium-high piney hopes with medium floral and low over-ripe navel orange complexity, low caramel and bread crust like malt, low d’anjou pear skin ester.

Appearance: Medium red-brown with orange high-lights, brilliant clarity, big mousy light beige head with excellent retention leaves thick lace.

Flavor: Medium candy-like malt with low toast and a hint of caramel, medium piney and floral hop flavor with low grapefruit note, medium bitterness, low fresh pear ester, bitterness just dominates balance, low alcohol.  semi-dry finish;  low lingering bitterness supported by low grainy malt with medium pear and grapefruit.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light body, medium carbonation, low warmth, low skim-milk-like creaminess and low astringency.

Overall: A semi-aggressive American Red, with delicate malt and esters smoothing the coarse hop edge.

Impact: Medium

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