Blue Point Hoptical Illusion

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

Dark golden to amber in color. Taller - turning rocky, light beige head. Sweet grapefruit aromas dominate. Hints of cedar and pale malt also in the scents. Sharp flavors from the start, with bitter pine and grapefruit. The middle seems to mellow a bit with a smoother more balanced attach on the palate. Liquid is a bit lifeless. Finish has a mild grapefruit zest kick and the linger is just a general bitter pill.

Sampled with Beerdrenched. Pours copper / bronze with a small off-white head. The aroma has lots of floral hops that is well balanced with the caramel malt. There is some pine and grapefruit hop aspects. Medium body that has some sharp carbonation and a resiny finish. Taste starts with initial maltiness then the wood / pine / cardboard hoppy taste comes through. It seems to have some staleness to it. Some lemon notes seem to linger around on the back of the finish. Would like to try again with a fresher bottle.

Decent attempt at an IPA. Nothing exciting about it though. Crisp, hoppy, and bitter. Wouldn’t go out of my way for it.

Brewtopia ’05 Light golden in color with a small white head. Aroma and flavor of spicy citrus/orange hops and caramel malt.

Golden w/ a slight, syrupy haze. Sparse white foam. Big hoppy aroma of grapefruit & pine w/ some light underlying notes of caramel. Sticky, medium feel. Flavour is hoppy & bitter w/ moderately sweet supporting elements. Finish is dry, bitter, & slightly brackish.

I love IPAs but I did not love this one. Beautiful gold with a large white head — looks great. Good hoppy nose. A bit thin in the mouth, dry and harsh. Moderate bitterness, not extreme like a DFH 90 or a Victory Hop Devil, but still without sufficient malt for balance. Not very complex and not very interesting.

Best Before Date March 2006, Sampled January 2006
Pours with a frothy light tan colored head that sits atop a bright, full copper colored beer. The aroma is sharp, with fruity notes of grapefruit, orange peel, lemon zest, and some light pine notes. There is a bit of sharp acidity to it as well as a hint of toasty malt notes. The taste is quite a bit more slanted towards the herbal/ pine hop notes. The citrus is definitely here, but not as much as was in the nose. I think this is mainly because the beer does not have a lot of sweetness; the touch of sweetness that it does have accentuates some notes of grapefruit and tangerine. A solid bitterness runs throughout this beer, yet the finish is not as lingeringly bitter as I would expect / hope.

The beer is actually quite light on the palate, it makes for easy quaffing, but I think that it in some ways hinders the hops in this beer. In the end this beer is enjoyable, but seems to be lacking in some respects.

Beer is a light amber color with a small white head that faded fast. Aromas of citrus type hop with some fruity esters with a mild malt mixed in. A medium amount of hop bitterness and flavor for an IPA. Finish has a little citrus type fruit followed with a some biscut type malt flavors. The beer is a decent session type IPA that I could have 3 or more. It just isn’t as assertive as I like my IPA. Overall a good easy drinking beer.