Portsmouth Bottle Rocket IPA

Pours a dark golden orange amber color with golden burnt orange and ripe banana hues when held to a light source and a one finger frothy off-white head that has pretty good retention, only slowly settling into a lasting cap and ring that coats the glass with rings of soapy lacing. Very earthy hop aroma that is kind of vegetal and soil like. Slight citrus notes as well as some earthy pine, alcohol and sweet caramel malt. This beer doesn’t have a lot of the dank oily hop aroma that I prefer in the style but rather smells very (literally) earthy. Slightly chewy resinous mouthfell that is slightly hop forward with vegetal earthy notes and some slight citrus presence. Very dry and piny with a strong malt backbone with hints of caramel and biscuit. Slight alcohol presence towards the end of the palate but there is very little warmth and the ABV is well masked. The piny dry hops linger throughout and the finish is pretty dry but this IPA is a bit too malty for my liking.

Bottle. Amber. A great citrus hop aroma with a nice juicy malt profile. Hops and malt really shine together in harmony.

In short: Discreet malts and biting hops for this crisp, bitter and dry IPA. Tasty, refreshing and very sessionnable.
How: Tap at brewpub
The look: Partly cloudy golden orange body topped by a small white head
In long: Nose of pine tree and oranges. Body is crisp with toasted pale malts providing a light crisp caramel. Nothing big, round or creamy here. A whole lot of hops provide flavours of pine-tree, dry tree bark, grapefruits and some orange peels. The bitterness is sharp and aggressive but the beer remains highly drinkable. For the style this is very much on the dry side. I admit the beer is unbalanced but with that type of hopping that works for the best. Very effective classic American IPA. I don’t think wan can ask for a lot more from a brewpub IPA. I asked my pint for directions to Boston and it didn’t answer. Thus proving my point.

Amber pour with an offwhite head. Had this in Growler form before but fresh from the tap its even better. Aroma was mostly Sweet maltiness with some lingering citrus hops with some orange zest. Flavor was much hoppier than the aroma, piney with some resinous notes and some biscuit character. Very sessionable, a great East coast IPA

pretty average IPA. I was fairly underwhelmed by this beer. I would drink it again, but most likely I would try to grab something different as this beer was pretty unimpressive on all fronts

Some floral and pine hop notes on top of light malt sweetness and just a hint of grapefruit. Pours bright golden with a frothy head that doesn’t last all that long. The flavor has a tasty hop profile that initially consists of citrus notes - grapefruit and orange - both fruit and rinds, followed by hints of pine all on top of a lightly sweet malt base. Lingering hop resins in the finish. Floral is dominant with citrus and pine lingering too. Dry finish. Lighter bodied, super drinkable, good hop profile. A really nice East Coast IPA leaning more towards a West Coast style.

Pours deep amber into a tulip. Off-white head quickly recedes to hug rim. Pine and resin aromas. Thick with upfront caramel and a lasting resin and grapefruit finish.

On tap at the brew pub. Bright orange in color with a medium off-white head. Aroma is very citrusy with some grass and light notes of caramel. Taste is of light caramel, citrus and pine.