Blue Point Hoptical Illusion

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

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.

Pours golden-amber into the glass, with a tiny retentive bubbly cap that leaves mild lace. A grapefruit nose ensues, with hints at pine needles. The flavors are bit thin upfront, with grapefruit and rind/zest notes, but not a lot of malt substance to back up the citrus aspect. Thus, the body lacks some substance and feels a bit hollow. The finish is decently bitter, with some biscuit flour and pine notes; however, with a mouthfeel devoid of substance in the backbone, alongside albeit "overtly zesty" carbonation levels, this brew just feels like it has all the right intentions, but doesn’t impress on the delivery.

12 oz. bottle at Flat Rock Saloon. Poured copper with a floral nose. Very piney, resiny flavor with an extremely dry, bitter finish.

Couleur dorée, ample mousse blanche concassée et rapidement diminuante. Arômes pleinement houblonnés, pins et agrumes style pamplemousses roses. Flaveurs toujours houblonnées, cette fois passablement herbale également, belle base de malt présente. Corps d’épaisseur moyenne, carbonatation active et faiblement piquante, finale amère. RBSG2005.

(On tap at The Old Toad, Rochester) Brilliant, rich hop aroma was up there with the best of them. Unfortunately, the flavor wasn’t so strong, with mild hopping and a very thin, disappointing palate. Still, quite quaffable and a decent. brew.

Bottle courtesey of Jimbowood. Pours a nice color, with a pretty good aroma. Taste is a bit harsh & dry with very little sweetness to balance it out. This would be a pretty good IPA if it was a little less dry. Average.