Pipeworks Blood of the Unicorn (2015-)

In this epic battle, the Blood of the Unicorn has been shed by the sword of the deadly assassin of the east. One sip of this aggressively hopped red ale clearly reveals what drives these, the greatest of, hop heads of lore. Is this the end of the mythical horned horse? Or will he rise like the phoenix to fight another day?

3.7

189 reviews

Chicago, United States

Community reviews

3.6 Taste: tangy big fresh dry hopped notes, crisp, caramel malts, earthy, dry finish. Same with the dry hopped nose. Reddish amber hue, clear, tall ringed lace with the head. Medium to med/full body. Red ale with dry yet filling body.

4.0 A really big red ale that emerges from an attractive pour with an aroma bordering on a double IPA (spruce, resin and dank forest floor) but delivers a balanced sweet-bitter taste from start through its long finish. From a 16-oz can packaged 02/08/21.

3.4 On tap at Man in the Moon. Amber with a medium head. Hops, malt, some caramel and some fruit. A decent one.

3.9 47 cl. can shared with Rick @ Rick. Clear brownish red with an off-white head. Hoppy aroma with some gentle caramel. Sweet taste with a bitter finish. Great red ale.

3.6 16 ounce can. Pours reddish gold with a decent off-white head. Aroma of malt and pine. Taste is malt, pine, caramel, and fruit. Pretty good.

3.8 Can. Mahogany color with white head. Bready malt nose. Balanced malt and hop sweet and bitter. Thicker body. Good and lives up to expectations.

3.5 Can. Pours deep amber. Caramel, orange, grapefruit, berry, a fairly bitter finish. Medium body. Good.

3.4 Pour is a deep dark red almost brown with a small tan head. Aroma is sweet caramel malt pine hops and a little dark fruit. Flavor is more heavy caramel malt, some pine hops and some black bread. Not as sweet as I thought it was going to be. This reminds me of some Rogue IPA's around 1999. A hoppy beer where you're expecting a heavy malt presence but Pipeworks does not forget about the hops. The only knock I would have about this beer is that it is super heavy and filling.

4.1 16oz can picked up at South Lyndale Liquors. Poured into snifter glass. Deeper ruby color with about a quarter finger light tan head. Nose leans into its malty characteristics with hoppy pine coming through as well. Taste starts with healthy malty sweetness. Hoppy notes of pine and resin come into play midway through and carry into the finish. Balance is well executed. Very much my style.

3.7 Tall boy, poured brownish amber clear with an off-white head. Medium bodied. Malty aroma with caramel and resin. Bitter grapefruit and pine taste, with medium bitter finish.

1.2 Red ale

3.7 Can, 0,5L. Hazy/murky orange/red color with frothy, off-white head. Aroma of orange, tangerine, caramel malts and herbs. Taste starts bitter/sweet with orange peel notes while finish gets more on the bitter side. Hoppy, herbal and grassy. Medium to full body, dry texture, lively carbonation. Nice, quite hoppy red ale.

3.2 Can in a trade with tfontana, thanks Tom. 10/17/19. Real deep red color. Flavor shows me herbal notes, caramel, and toffee. Hearty pine bitterness. Overall, this is a standard west coast influenced amber ale. Pretty boring.

3.8 Can pour into nonic pint glass from Redstone Liquors, Stoneham. Appearance is hazy dark amber-red with lazy, light sparkle, 1.5-finger width foamy, beige head with good retention and nice soapy lacing. Aroma is bitter pine and citrus over lightly caramel malts. Taste is bitter resinous pine over sweet caramel malts. Mouthfeel is medium side of light-to-medium bodied with thick texture, soft carbonation and more bitter than sweet finish as taste. Overall, the hops mainly take the form of piney bitterness rather than much in the way of flavor. Not terribly complex but well crafted.

3.7 Creamy off white head stayed on a rust coloured still body. Red berry, conifer & marmalade aroma. Medium bodied, sharp on the tongue with clean back. Bitter tangy tastes with a sweet malt underbody & sweet berry, pine, resin, caramel & hops.

3.9 Malty and hoppy aroma. Beautiful dark red color. Tastes like a west coast ipa with a red ale aftertaste. Thick palate but the beer is not overall heavy. Pretty good.

3.8 Nearly clear dark mahogany pour with a two finger beige head. Aroma is deep caramel, earth, woody, sweet citrus, honey roasted nuts, hay, herbal hops. Flavor is sweet toasted wood, hay, herbal hops, sweet cooked citrus and rye-like spiciness and earth. Medium body, slightly syrupy feel, slight dryness, medium carbonation. Very good hoppy red, hits all the right notes

3.4 Disig brun öl med ett gulvitt skum. Doft av tropisk frukt och citrus. I smaken tillkommer mineraltoner och en lättare humlebränna.

3.4 Can. Pours murky amber with an off white head. Aromas of orange peel, malt, caramel and resin. Flavours of grapefruit, lemon, malt, caramel, orange marmelade and pine. Medium bitterness.

4.2 18/II/19 - 1Pt. can from Bierhalle Deconinck (Vichte), shared @ home, BB: n/a, canned: X/10/18 - (2019-246) Clear deep orange to amber beer, big creamy beige head, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: malty, cow fodder, citrus, floral, fruity, grapefruit, nice! MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: citrus notes, fruity, pretty bitter, malty, some caramel, pineapple. Aftertaste: nice piny hops, citrus, grapefruit, hoppy, caramel, bitter touch.

3.8 One pint can. Pours a beautiful mohogany brown with a dense off white massive head. Malt mixed with hops scents. Really different flavor combo with a lot of malt sweetness and bread that has a hops bite upfront and the hops wins the battle for a lingering finish. Schizophrenic but it works well.

3.4 First taste I thought it was an IPA because of the hoppy initial taste. But the finish lacks the IPA bitterness and is impressively clean. Great start to our beer tasting tonight.

3.5 American style amber ale from this reputed brewery in Chicago, can at Kantien in Ghent, shared with Davor. Frothy, medium thick, off-white, opening head lacing in dots over a bronze coloured beer with coppery hue, turning cloudy when poured out completely. Aroma of dried orange peel, dry biscuit, toasted garlic, wormwood leaves, brown bread crumbs, toasted peanuts, soggy paprika crisps, herb cheese, soap, dried mango. Cleanish, fruity onset, dried fig touch but remaining very restrained in sweetness, medium carb with a minerally accent, oily mouthfeel, relatively full for its ABV; toasty, wet-biscuity, peanutty malt core, leading to an oily, spicy hop bitter finish with lightly piney, oniony and grapefruity aspects, but biscuity maltiness lingers equally strong. Hop bitterness remains altogether relatively mild, indeed identifying this beer as a US amber ale rather than red IPA, but it also fails to add enough body to the finish, so that the ending gives a somewhat watery impression. Nothing wrong here, but I am surprised by the high scores here, though doubtlessly the sample I had was already past its prime (seven months old); of course amber ale has lost much of its popularity in the past two decades so I guess there aren't too many left to fill this website's top-50 with. in all, a decent, classically styled, tasty and very US style beer for sure.

3.5 Keg at BrewDog Camden. Fruity pulpy aroma. Hazy blood orange red. Thin translucent white head. Medium bitter. Herby. Hoppy kick. Light bodied. Thin. Fizzy carbonation. Abrupt finish. Highly drinkable.

3.7 Keg, Brewdog Leicester. Amber brown with a thin head. Bready toffee and rye malts. Spicy pine. Biscuit. Pithy grapefruit. Grassy. Boozy. Good.

3.5 Keg at BrewDog Leicester. Amber, clear with only the slightest ring of off-white head. Malty, resinous aroma, typical of the best American ambers but unfortunately more muted. Taste is similar: sweet with pine needle character but with a bitter hoppy balance. It's wonderful but I only wish there was more of everything.

3.3 Draft at Glory. Cloudy orangish brown with thick beige foam. Medium caramel malts. Some peppery spice. Nothing exceptional but not bad.

3.3 L'odore è sorprendentemente felice, ma con un po 'di caramello e malto di biscotti. Note di bacche rosse e agrumi, con un pizzico di pino.

4.1 Very hoppy and nice malts. Good beer for casual drink. Red IPA

3.7 Hazy brunlig mørk, let bundfald, højt hvid skum som svinder til lidt ujævnt 5 mm lag, masser gardiner. Gras, humle lidt tung frugt i aromaen. Smagen er medium/høj bitter humle, malt, nogle undernoter af tung tørret frugt og kirsebær, en fyldig og lidt tung øl, men udemærket.