THE traffic lights labelling system on food packaging is supposed to steer us clear of what's not good for us and give us the green light to gorge on all the good stuff.
Of course, it doesn't always work that way and we can adopt selective blindness when we really need a treat which we know will be littered with red lights.
Traffic lights are prevalent in beers as well, but not in the same sort of spoilsport fashion.
The colour of beer is one of the ways we define certain styles as it often reflects how the grains have been processed ahead of the brew - darker grains mean darker beers.
Indeed, the traditional colours of traffic lights find their way into many styles of beer - yes, even green if you're partial to Berlinerweisse or other sour beer.
In the case of one of Boundary's latest offerings, they have channelled traffic signals in the naming of their beer - Turn Right On Red.
Now, there's no need to do a deep dive into the Highway Code here. The beer itself is a 6 per cent amber-coloured IPA.
It's dry-hopped Mosaic, Citra and Azacca, the latter of which give it a kind of waxy and resiny aroma.
There's also oats and wheat in the grain bill, which lead to a smooth and slightly creamy mouthfeel. That provides the platform for flavours of clementine and lemon.
There's a nice bitter finish with a lingering dankness, which would lean this into the New England variety if the bitterness wasn't so pronounced.
Staying in north America (and sticking with the traffic light theme), Mourne Mountains have released an American amber ale called Overdue.
The name suggests it's a style they've always been meaning to get round to. Unsurprisingly, this 6.3 per cent ale pours a dark amber colour in the glass.
There are initial sweet caramel flavours from the malt, but there juicy hint of the hops does come through. The hop profile is subtle enough, with the malt dominating as you would expect from the style.
The mouthfeel is smooth enough and the drinkability of this beer belies the relatively high ABV.
