Beer Review: Shred Blazing Santa – A Hoppy Holiday Haymaker
Brewery: Shred Beer Company Style: Imperial / Double Red Ale (Mega Hoppy Red Ale) ABV: 8.5%
When the holiday season rolls around, shelves are usually choked with nutmeg-laden winter warmers, sticky imperial stouts, and spiced Belgian ales. Shred Beer Company, true to its aggressive, action-sports-adjacent branding, decided to take a different line down the mountain.
“Blazing Santa” promises a “Mega Hoppy Red Ale.” This style straddles the line between a rich, malty American Amber and a full-blown West Coast Double IPA. It’s a difficult style to nail; the malt needs to be burly enough to support a massive hop load without becoming cloying, while the hops need to shine without stripping the enamel off your teeth.
Does Blazing Santa deliver the goods, or is it just a lump of bitter coal?
Appearance – Blazing Santa pours a gorgeous, deep mahogany red with ruby highlights when held up to the light. There is a slight hop haze—expected with something labeled “Mega Hoppy”—suggesting unfiltered character. It builds a rocky, robust, off-white head that shows excellent retention, eventually settling into a thick cap and leaving sticky, ornate lacing down the glass with every sip. It looks substantial in the glass.
Aroma – The nose is an immediate olfactory assault, living up to the “Blazing” moniker. The malt profile is present, offering notes of toasted bread crust, darkly caramelized sugar, and a hint of toffee. However, the malt is quickly subsumed by a tidal wave of American hops. Expect aggressive aromas of dank pine resin, grapefruit zest, and perhaps a touch of sticky cannabis-like dankness. It smells like a Christmas tree farm that’s on fire, in the best way possible.
Flavor – This is a full-contact beer. The first sip leads with a firm, assertive bitterness that scrubs the palate. The mid-palate is where the battle happens: a rich, chewy caramel malt backbone tries to assert itself, providing necessary sweetness and body, but it is constantly wrestling with saturated hop flavors.
The hop profile is classically West Coast: oily resin, spruce tips, and bitter orange peel dominate. There’s very little “juicy” New England fruitiness here; this is old-school, bracing bitterness. The finish is long, dry, and intensely piney, with a warming alcohol presence that reminds you this is a winter sipper.
Mouthfeel: medium to full-bodied, with moderate carbonation that helps lift the heavy flavors. The texture is slightly oily from the hop resins, and the high attenuation leaves it surprisingly dry at the finish for a beer with this much malt color. The alcohol warmth is noticeable but smooth, providing a pleasant “blazing” sensation in the chest.
Shred’s Blazing Santa is not a beer for the faint of heart, nor is it for those seeking a cozy, spiced holiday treat. This is a loud, aggressive, and highly entertaining beer designed for the dedicated hophead who needs a break from stouts during December.
It successfully balances a massive malt bill against an even bigger hop bill, resulting in a beer that is both comforting and bracing. It’s the beer equivalent of shredding fresh powder on a cold day—intense, exhilarating, and satisfying.
Recommended for fans of: Sierra Nevada Celebration, Arrogant Bastard, old-school West Coast Double IPAs.
Available at SF Tequila Shop