Pizza Port Hop 15

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

3-6-08 bottle.
Nice red amber with ideal head and thick lacing. Nice sweet hop smell (wet poignant hops, not dry at all). A hint soapy but nice and very enjoyable. Smooth and almost creamy mouthfeel. I love the high drinkability of this. Tastes refreshing and earthy and hoppy. A good beer all around!

Poured at GABF 2005. Golden straw colored pour. Sizable, foamy, quickly dissipating head. Fresh pine hop leaves great your nose. A bit metallic. Fresh hops dominate the flavor with fruity orange and spice. Nice malty backbone of caramel and light grain but mostly hops. Bright in you mouth with a coating medium body and big bitter finish. Some alcohol warmth as it goes down. Most enjoyable. Probably my favorite 2IPA of GABF.

Since GABF I have had this several more time, both at the brewery and again just recently at new years 2008. I’ve made a few changes to my initial notes. Amber color wtih light carbonation. In addition to the pine aroma I also noted strong caramel and earthy hops. Hop pofile I also noted pineapple and pine. Very dry finish. No change in score. This is a winner.

Draft. Dark orange in color with an off-white head. Resiny pine aromas with tons of citrus. Extremely hop forward and a bit almost harsh- the way I imagine they brewed it to be. Good bit of malt sweetness but I wouldn’t call it balanced by any stretch of the imagination. More pine flavors and orange notes. Surprisingly dry for a beer this big. Very well done.

Dark orange body, lightly hoppy nose, off-white head without much retention. Bracing bitter body with piney notes. Strong finishing bitterness. Hides alcohol well.

Pours a dark amber color. Small white head. Aroma is full of hops, overloading with hops. Flavor is more hops, literally hop juice, with some sweeter creamier malt to make an attempt at balancing it out. Very much to my liking. Thanks to JCapriotti for sharing this one!

Pours bright clear orange with bubbly foamy offwhite head. Very nice citrus hop aroma. Nice malt flavor with lots of bitter citric hops. Overall, very nice double that tastes more liek normal ipa.

Deep crimson pour with healthy off white head. Deep hop aroma, with notes of rose petals, sour grapefruit, pine, grass and lemon zest. Some sweet malts come out in the body, but the hops easily overpower. Semi-sweet chocolate and some spice should be noted. Hoppy as hell, with a great drinkability and nice mouthfeel. Suprisingly little bitter in the finish - it is more sweet. Noice.

Bottle, courtesy illidurit. Pours a murky reddish brown, with a creamy Twinkee filling-colored head. Tons of lacing clings to the glass for life. Giants bales of floral hops pound the nose, with caramel, vanilla, molasses, cinnamon...wow. Flavor is full of creamy hops, and balance well with soft, sinuous malts. Caramel and vanilla rock my world, too. Spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, brown sugar. This beer has a story to tell. Deliciously full-bodied, and insanely drinkable. Full of vigor and fury, yet overall, is sustained well by itself. The malts are so great here, this is what an Imperial IPA should be like: plenty of hops, but so balanced that it actually becomes fun to sit down and pick out all the nuances and subtleties involved. Wow.