Blue Point Hoptical Illusion

Brewed by Blue Point Brewing
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Patchogue, New York USA

[GABF 2006 – Denver, Co] Deep yellow in color very cloudy brew with a nice thick head. The hops aroma was awesome nice thick with hops and the flavor was one for the NW. A great IPA for the Eastern seaboard.

golden color thick white well laced head. Smells like a kids ceral but I couldn’t figure out which one. A sweet sugar and light citrus aroma. Full oily creamy palate. a dry grapefruit hop w/ some nice carmel balance finishes evenly bitter. Good stuff.

Thanks to secret santa. Lots of pine sticky hop resins. Almost no malt detectable in aroma. Flavor has same piney hop bite with some cirus sweetness and faint malt in the background. Long lingering spicy hop aftertaste. Nice lacing. A little one dimensional.

bottle rating: 7/3/7/3/13 = 3.3 Clear amber body with a small head. Aroma is hop dominated with notes of grapefruit, pine, citrus and grass. Flavor is the same, some malt (caramel) backing but nothing terribly complex or interesting. Tap rating: 8/4/8/4/16 = 4 A totally different beer. Clear amber, good lacing and retention. Aroma is like a grapefruit was dropped in the glass. Pine and resin are present as well. Huge hop aroma and flavor. Yeah, we’ve all seen these flavors before, but the freshness made this way better. Hop juice. Scores are averaged

(cask at Gingerman) Partly cloudy copper body with a long lasting white head. Intense oak, pine and orange zest aroma. Body felt tailor made for a cask conditioning, soft, viscous and oily. This oily texture holds together eathy spices and citrus fruits flavours. The malt is there to support the flavours but not add to them. The carbonation was very soft even by cask standards. As far as american IPAs are concerned this one is more refreshing than aggressive. Very good. If you drink six of them, women start to look better than they really are, that’s what I call a Hoptical Illusion.

12oz bottle via trade as a bonus with Notalush - Thanks Brandon! - Pours amber with a short white creamy head that stays well and laces the glass. Aromas of apricot, and light grapefruit over light caramel malts. Flavor is lots of apricot, some definite grapefruit at times. Good malt background with some sweet caramel and some grainy notes as well. Fairly bitter on the finish. Palate is light and well carbonated. Pretty clean feeling IPA overall. Very well balanced and quite drinkable

12 oz. bottle. Pours a slightly hazy golden orange with a thick head and lots of lacing. The aroma is slightly sweet and quite hoppy. I also noted grapefruit in the aroma. The flavor starts out a bit sweet and finishes fairly bitter. Some grapefruit and pine in the finish. Very colorful packaging !

Draught: This one pours a clear, lighter amber color. There was a bit of a white head on it that leaves some lacing. Decent enough aroma. Grapefruit nose with a hint of pine. The taste is decently bitter, with some grapefruit and pine notes. Pretty well balanced with a decent malt body. A very good example of an IPA.