Purple Moose Brewer - Navigator Red IPA

Navigator Red IPA is a 6.2% ABV red India Pale Ale from Purple Moose Brewery, sold in 440ml cans and available through this Crafty Canary listing via Blas ar Fwyd, the Welsh wholesaler that distributes it rather than the brewer itself. The beer sits in the red IPA category, a style that bridges the malt backbone of an amber or red ale with the generous hopping of an American-style IPA, and Navigator uses this middle ground to balance sweetness against bitterness rather than leaning hard into either extreme.

Purple Moose Brewery, known in Welsh as Bragdy Mŵs Piws, is based in Porthmadog, a historic harbour town in Gwynedd on the edge of the Snowdonia mountains. It is a small, independent brewery that has built its reputation over two decades by brewing exclusively with UK malted barley and water drawn from the Snowdonia hills. That commitment to local, quality ingredients has brought the brewery more than a hundred awards over the years, including a gold in category at the CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain competition and the title of Best Welsh Speciality at the Great Taste Awards, making it one of the more consistently recognised breweries in North Wales.

Navigator itself pours with a hazy red-amber colour and carries an aroma built around caramel, citrus and pine, a combination that comes from the generous use of Columbus hops. On the palate expect toffee sweetness from the malt meeting piney, resinous hop bitterness, giving the beer a fuller body than a typical pale IPA while still finishing with a discernible hop bite. At 6.2% ABV it is a stronger beer than most session ales, with enough weight to stand up to the hop character without becoming cloying, and it is brewed to be suitable for vegans and vegetarians.

Red IPAs like Navigator work well with food that can match their caramel and hop intensity. Grilled or barbecued meats, particularly those with a charred or smoky edge, are a natural pairing, as are strong cheeses and dishes with a bit of spice, since the malt sweetness helps to cool any chilli heat while the bitterness cuts through richness. It also stands up well on its own as a beer to sip slowly, given its ABV and depth of flavour, rather than one for quick refreshment.

For anyone exploring Welsh craft beer, Navigator Red IPA is a useful example of what a small independent brewery in Snowdonia can do with the red IPA style, taking a format that originated in the American craft beer scene and giving it a distinctly Welsh identity through local water and malt. It is worth trying alongside Purple Moose's other beers, such as the lighter Cwrw Eryri, to get a sense of the range the brewery covers, from session ales through to bolder, hop-forward styles like this one.