Pizza Port Hop 15

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

Really, the only thing that isn’t that good on this is the aroma. Little floral or citrus, mostly it just smells strong. The flavor however is all that is great about San Diego/SoCal IPAs. Very hoppy, crisp and tasty. Love it.

growler, via WeeHeavySD. Pours a hazy dark copper body under a one finger tight bubbled beige head that faded quickly. The nose is just a boatload of resiny piney hops that obscures mostly semi sweet lightly caramel malt. The flavor is all brash unapologetic West Coast IIPA goodness. Hops so resinous the seem to stick to your teeth. Hefty malt base with a good dose of alcohol on the finish. Mouthfeel is full and thick with a resiny stickiness and moderate soft carbonation. A little hot on the back end. Overall, a pretty darn good beer, but not as good as the Lou P Lin or Hop Suey.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, blankboy, jerc, mabel and tupalev - blankboy’s bottle. Slightly hazy sunset amber with a small head. Aroma - hoppy as hell, that’s all you need to know. Medium body. Flavour is o.t.t. with the hops at first, but it starts to come into balance, with some sweet malts coming through to battle with the huge resiny hops. Big, warm finish. Me like.

Super hazy golden coloured body with a hazy white head that stays atop for a long while. A very very potent hop flavoured aroma with citrus, grapefruit and even some pine coming from this - VERY dry hopped. Medium to full-bodied; Strong hoppy flavour with some good malt backbone taste and a nice spicey flavour. Aftertaste strong and potent, very nice and refreshing, even after the perfect up front taste. Overall, a nice beer - definitely one to sample if you can get your hands on it! I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from PlumpJack Wines in San Francisco (Mission), California on 31-March-2008, sampled on 26-May-2008.

Keg, Pizza Port / Port Brewing event at Brickskeller. Pours a clear, reddish orange color; off-white head with large bubbles, good retention, and patchy lacing. Generous, resiny and chewy, citrus and pine hop aroma; lovely hop nose. Full, viscous mouthfeel: relaxed carbonation, with resiny and dense piney and citrus hop chewiness; somehow, all the hop flavor is there, but the bitterness is kept at an engaging, chewy point; some pleasant maple syrup maltiness in there as well. Lengthy, piney hop finish. Great stuff.

750ml bottle - Hand bottled #226 - obtained in a trade with Foolish_Mortal - Thanks Brandon! - Poured copper and clear with a big puffy beige head that lingers and laces very well. Beautiful in appearance. Hoppy is an understatement for the aroma. Citrus grapefruit with an undertone of peaches and a bit of the caramel malt can be found beneath it all. Flavor goes quickly from sweet caramel malts to all c-hops then back to a nice sweet tangerine finish. Balanced very well between the sweet malts and the sharp hops. Body is nice and full but oh so smooth on this beer. Very very nice.. I enjoyed the whole bottle down to the sediment at the bottom and never noticed the 10.5% until I got out of my chair! A hophead’s dream!

On tap GABF '02: Smells like it was made from mass quantities of 15 different types of hops. I never smelled such a depth of hops before. Medium orange color, oily syrupy palate. Starts more bitter than you can imagine ends way more bitter than that.

Sampled on tap at The Stuffed Sandwich, May 2007
This beer is well carbonated; a two-and-a-half finger thick head, with a frothy, amber tinged, tan colored head. The beer is a deep amber color that is almost clear and shows a amber, dark honey color when held up to the light. The aroma is dominated by a hops of the fruity American variety. Enough hops are packed into this brew that it smells sweet, even without the hop influence. Sweet apricot, tangelo, tropical fruit and candied orange peel are all quite noticeable. The aroma is quite smooth and does not focus on herbal / pine notes that are found in many overly-hopped brews (at least none of it is noticeable in the nose).

Wow, the flavor is like a tropical fruit concentrate; notes of mango, lychee, tangelo, apricot and peach flavors are all quite noticeable. The flavor does have some pine character, which melds with a solid bitterness that is noticeable as soon as it hits the tongue through to a hop astringent finish. Still this is overall quite smooth for an amped up hoppy brew. As time moves on notes of caramel and malty melanoids become noticeable under the ample hop notes. This beer is surprisingly malty in some ways, yet still the malt plays a supporting role, but clearly is not an after-thought. This is thickish for an IPA, though note necessarily for a double IPA; this allows for the fruit hop notes to stick to the palate quite well in a lingering way. This is very nice, but could perhaps use some more pungently raw hoppiness to it to balance the fruit hop character, but this is a minor, almost stretching, complaint.