Fire Station 5 Steam Pumper IPA

Brewed by Portland Brewing Company (Pyramid Breweries)
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Portland, Oregon USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Pours a deep orange-amber with a smallish head. Delicious nose of juicy mandarin drenched in caramel, with just a bit of pine. Slightly malty flavor, stale hops... nice bitter aftertaste. Flavor doesn’t do the aroma justice.

Still discovering old rating notes saved in other online formats -- this one from years ago (no idea where an when). Clean citrus and pine ipa taste - on the malty side and a little bready.

It was cheap, and I’ve been on a budget lately, so I tried it. Fairly weak all around IPA with concentration around the malt, at least that’s how it tasted. Looking this up and seeing who made it makes sense now as to why it tasted so...plain, and simple.

I’m biased because I’m not an IPA fan. But this honestly tasted like I was drinking a christmas tree.

Nice up front, but underwhelming in the finish and aftertaste. Malt side is toasty and chalky, with nips of cocoa, but it lacks depth. Hop side is decent at first (very floral and grassy), but the aromas fade fast, and the mild bitterness in the aftertaste is somewhat one-dimensional. Overall, it’s not that bad; it’s just not very exciting or multi-layered.

Not a very pleasing IPA. Musty hops with a slow aftertaste. I’ll try another but I’m not expecting fireworks.

The Dan Journal #382. Tasted 8/4/10. 12oz bottle. Filtered with a dark golden amber hue. Off white ring and moldy head. Aromas of bright citrus candy. solid nose! Nice and full bodied with a good dose of hops. Tasty with a tingling effervescence. Mildly sticky and bitter finish. Subtle tea like quality. But a solid IPA overall!

12 oz bottle into shaker. I’ve learned to expect extremely substandard quality from these Fire Station beers. Every one I’ve tried has been mediocre to terrible. So that’s my mindset before even ranking. Aroma is surprisingly not bad. Not great, but not bad. Has signature IPA aromas of pine and floral notes. Pours a slightly hazy orange with no head and a collar of foam full of big bubbles and mediocre lace. Tastes pretty good, but there’s a faint offnote of vegetable matter. Highly carbonated, medium bodied. Overall, the best Fire Station beer I’ve had, but it’s definitely substandard for the style. It’s drinkable at least, unlike the "Hefeweisen."

Big bottle shared with Parksy. Pours a flat dirty orange, no head. Wet vegetal compost aroma. Rotten melon sweetness-- where are the hops? Maybe a bad bottle? Drainpour.

UPDATED: MAR 25, 2010 Fire Station 5 Brewing Company--Portland Brewing Company--Steam Pumper IPA--India Pale Ale--2005 Release--12 oz. Bottle--5.50%-45 IBU’s? (3.75 / 5.0) IPA--Fizzy thin no lace head. Clear bright thin dark golden color. Mild floral CO2 hop front. Crisp thin mild dry sweet caramel earthy grapefruit fizzy body. Clean balanced mild tangy citrus hop IPA end. Thin. Sampled 9/17/2005. Fire Station 5 Brewing Company--Portland Brewing Company--Pyramid Breweries, Inc.--Steam Pumper IPA India Pale Ale--2008 Release--22 oz. Bottle--5.60% ABV--40 IBU’s. (3.5 / 5.0) IPA--Big fizzy foamy lacy head. Very fizzy head producing clear thin bright gold color. Mild earthy floral hop front. Dry sweet thin crisp pilsner caramel mild earthy pine body. Crisp bitter hop spice tangy earthy end. Thin spicy CO2 fizzy IPA. Sampled 12/12/2008. $2.79 Each. Fire Station 5 Brewing Company--Portland Brewing Company--Pyramid Breweries, Inc.--Steam Pumper IPA India Pale Ale--Venerable--Stubby Neck Bottle--2009 Release--12 oz. Bottle--5.60%--40 IBU’s. (4.0 / 5.0) IPA--Big foamy lacy white head. Fizzy nucleating head. Clear bright pretty thin dark gold color. Delicate floral hop front. Crisp zesty mellow sweet cloying caramel mild fruit dough tasty body. Crisp clean balanced mellow hop spice smooth end. Sampled 2/5/2009. 6-Pack $7.99. FireStation 5--Olympia, WA--Fred Meyer. Inc.--Steam Pumper IPA India Pale Ale--Venerability--2010 Release--22 oz. Bottle.--6.50% ABV--65 IBU’s? IPA--Thin lacy off white lasting head. Clear rich bright pretty dark copper amber color. Earthy toasted caramel herbal floral pine hop front. Cloying doughy toasted caramel crusty fruit mild hop resin malty body. Tangy hop cloying earthy malt spice rich balanced end. Minimal fruit citrus notes. Nice well done Contract Brew. Sampled 2/8/2010. $2.79 Each. New Contract Brewer? Evolving Positively! Fire Station 5--Olympia, WA--Fred Meyer. Inc.--Steam Pumper IPA India Pale Ale--Venerability--2010 12 oz. Bottle. 6.50% ABV--55 IBU’s.? (3.75 / 5.0) Mild lace thin light white head. Clear bright amber gold color. Mild earthy pine light floral hop front. Crisp very tangy dry sweet earthy caramel mild grapefruit pine thin hoppy Golden Ale body. Mild hot hop spice earthy dry pine end. Hops increase in prominence from light front to spicy end. Well made mild IPA, but a little bland tonight. Sampled 3/24/2010. 6- Pack $6.99.