Friday, January 4th, rang in the official debut of Rip Current beers at O’Brien’s, and many QUAFF’ers were in attendance to help Paul Sangster & Guy Shobe celebrate. Of course, they had already launched their beers the day before at Churchill’s in North County, but I for one was glad to see these beers this far down south.
While Red Flag seemed to be a big hit, the Milkstache Stout was also popular that night judging by all the ‘staches’. Of course the Paddling Out Pale and the Barrier Reef Brown also drew much praise from patrons, many of whom weren’t even aware of Rip Current Brewing before tonight.
My personal favourite was Red Flag, which had a nice, clean hop flavor, but not over-the-top like some big IPAs. But at 9.1% I was destined to try some of their other beers. So, perhaps in the wrong order, I had Paddling Out Pale next and found it very fresh and hoppy enough for this hop-head’s taste. I’ll be having some more of that beer in the near future for sure. For the dessert portion of my liquid dinner I had their Milkstache Stout, which was roasty and slightly creamy with a nice coffee finish. This was an extremely easy-drinking stout and I could have easily drank another one or two. And while I didn’t get around to the Barrier Reef Brown tonight, I did manage to stop referring to the new brewery as ‘Rip Tide’… sorry Paul, I’m sure you’ll get just a few more of those..
Meanwhile, Paul & Guy spent much of the evening entertaining questions about their new brewery, beers and plans for the future. They both seemed appreciative and grateful for all the genuine interest in Rip Current. Looking forward to more Rip Current beers in the near future!