Pizza Port Hop 15

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
San Marcos, California USA

bomber from archer liquors poured into a pint glass. honestly, i was really looking forward to this beer and i was pretty damn disappointed. pours a clear, light copper with zero head and a razor thin rim of lacing. aroma is very weak. slightly hoppy with just a hint of citrus and a slight, burnt brown sugar sweetness. a big astringent/skunky aroma of moldy grass seemed to dominate. flavor was off as well. mostly hop flavors come through but they certainly weren’t fresh. a bit of pine and earth came through but again, the alcohol come through too much and the maltiness seemed absent. palate was very thin for a DIPA with almost no carbonation and was just way too astringent. guess i just got unlucky and got an off bottle, which sucks considering the good rep of this beer. maybe i’ll get to try it fresh and re-rate.

Poured into a Duvel tulip glass A- Pours a clear amber/orange/honey hue, head is a few fingers’ of white, craggy, frothiness that is mostly sustaining, good watery lacing sticks on the glass S- Nose is dominated by big citrus and piney hops with a nice backbone of sugar sweetness and some floral spice, really impressive T- Initial taste is tart and sour citrus (lemon/grapefruit) and pine hops that is complimented by some subtle sweet malts, some pepper and spice comes in midway with a bit of funkiness, finishes dry and bitter M- Medium-bodied ale, oily texture that coats the tongue and sticks around for a while, nice level of carbonation D- Surprisingly easy-to-drink DIPA, but that 10%abv will definitely sneak up on you, I know that this is a "hop bomb" but my West Coast palate is not overwhelmed by the hoppiness, rather this is much better balanced than other DIPAs owing in part to that honey/citrus sweetness that avoids cloyingness and takes you along for a tasty hop ride

Bottle. Body-amber with a thick ring of bubbles and a thin film of bubbles. Nose-lots of big PNW hops, pine, clean citrus. Taste-cereal, fruity hops, very spicy, not too sweet, very fruity, light brown sugar. I am not a huge fan of hoppy beers, but I must say-this is as flawless as a DIPA can get. Not too bitter not too sweet solid malt backbone. Excellent.

On tap at City Beer Store in SF. Excellent west coast IPA. Clear golden-amber color, nice off-white head. Strong piney hop aroma. Flavor is piney, grapefruity hops, well balanced by a sweet malty backbone. Typical SoCal IPA hop character. Somewhat syrupy on the palate from the hop oils. This is up there with the best.

Pours clear amber, with a thin white head, good lacing. Smells of pine and grapefruit, with a slight undertone of caramel and hay. Medium body, slightly dry. The flavor is much like the smell, has good subtle malt flavors, and a complex hop profile, with a delicious and fairly strong bitter finish.

The look is amber, some floating sediment, nice big beige head. The smell is very hoppy, nice pine, citrus, malts, and caramel all coming in. The taste is a nice medium bitterness level, with hops, pine, citruns, malts, and caramel.

Appearance: It pours a hazy amber beer with a small white head. Not much lacework. Aroma: Very strong with reminiscence of quinces, blue cheese, hops and caramel. Flavor and palate: Syrupy. Nice bitterness. Beautiful hop profile which is balanced by caramel. Very long finish.

0.65 l bottle at Konttori, Tampere. Orange color with creamy head. Sweet and hoppy aroma with pine, lemon, orange, grapefruit and mango. Very hoppy bittersweet flavor with pine, grapefruit, lemon and menthol. Fair amount of sweet chewy maltiness also but it does not mask the hops. Excellent pungent hop character.