Stem to Stern

I picked a bottle of Coronado Brewing's Stem to Stern Batch 1 over the weekend in partial honor of Coronado Brewing's twenty-first anniversary.  Batch 1's label said it was a hoppy red ale, a style I love, but one that is underbrewed, and one that I think is becoming rare.  Done right, a hoppy red ale is more a malty IPA than a heavy amber ale, and has enough bitterness to accompany a high level of sweetness.  This puts hoppy red ales in an opposite position to current consumer tastes that shuns malt and craves hops.  This is too bad for beer drinkers.  Stem to Stern combined just the right mix of rich, candied malt, with a bright bitter finish, and clearly lands on the red IPA side of the style ledger.  It had a quiet 7.7% abv and a chalky dryness that served to bridge the malt and hops.  It was a drinkable, lovely beer.  Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of Stem to Stern Batch 1.