Port Brewing Hop 15

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

This was a profound experience. I hate 95% of most hop-laden beers. This one was different. Beautiful aroma--so freekin’ intense, like fresh grapefruit extract. Just so pure. Then came a rush of pine. Flavors of orange, pine, just a little sweet, really nice, with a note like candi sugar. Low bitterness. My best ever "big hop" beer?

GABF '03, Deep amber in color with a small white head.Sweet malt,citrus fruits and alcohol aroma and flavor.

UPDATED: APR 26, 2007 Another one of which I’ve had numerous samples at different fests but have failed to review yet, so here we go. All have been draught samples, the most recent being at EBF ’06.
Just a stunning appearance, really. Dense, near Orval-like head is wonderfully well-retained. You have to be very patient to let it settle down so that you can unlock more of the aroma than what it gives off at first while the head is still large. The body is lightly hazy, amber-beige with light lemon-lime skin hues, miniscule bubbles and sheets of lace as it proceeds down the glass all too easily. The nose shows light tropical fruits, easygoing citrus (lemons, limes, red grapefruit), smooth undercurrents of honeyish malts and a splash of tangerines and almost wintergreen esters on the end. Profound and sinus-clearing, it is minty and herbal, yet at the same time citrusy and sweet.
The flavor is a cacaphony of hops, yet they seem wedded to the malt better than most examples. The carbonation effortlessly carries the bright and lively hop flavors and pale sugars, hand-in-hand, while light bits of lime tartness and a scratch of pine surface towards the end. Strong and certainly warming, but otherwise tremendously well concealed is the alcohol. Like the best in its class (in my mind), the hop flavor far, far, far exceeds the hop bitterness/acidity. Nor does the malt become cloying or overly syrupy. Lingering on the finish, I keep finding little hints of mint/spearmint/wintergreen, something like that mixed with a delectable hint of lime. I don’t find this to be extremely bitter at all. Medium-full to full body, tight, expressive carbonation, no wateriness or thinning whatsoever. Give me a bit more malt complexity and maybe throw in some more tropical fruits or something to further stand this one apart in the style and it would be perfect.

Bottled. Amber coloured. Hazy. Off white fluffy head. Sweetness, pine, herbs, spice, citrus and caramel in the aroma. Flavour of pine herbs, flowers, light grape, spice and light alcohol. Full bodied. Very dry. Heavy bitter end with a spicy and acidic touch. Intense alcoholwarmth on lips and palate. Very refreshing and matches my Chili con Carne perfectly.

The big brew pours with a hazy deep orange amber body topped by a thin, creamy, lasting head with good lacing. The aroma is sweet and tropical with a nice hoppy note and a good maltiness. The flavor is sweet and tropical with a kick of bitter, piney hops and a nice malt balance. Full bodied and smooth with a warmth down deep.

UPDATED: JUL 15, 2007 Pours a medium orange color, oily syrupy looking....equally so on the palate. Smells like it was made from mass quantities of 15 different types of hops plus a nice dose of caramelish malts...still, while sweetness is detected, it’s all about grapefruity piney hops Flavor is mildly sweet, nice alcohol kick, a little spicy....very interesting. Not perfectly balanced, but still pretty close. Full bodied and finished dry...very dry. Thanks TAR!

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.

Thanks to DarkElf for this beer.

Shared this with the family at my and my grandmother’s birthday party. Poured a clear effervescent dark amber with a large semi-creamy off-white head. Strong aroma of clean citrusy grapefruit and piney hops, with a touch of sweetness. Taste is sweet and dense malt backbone with a hop kick that makes itself more prevalent in the finish, along with a retronasal alcohol burn. Good body. Complex, thick and tasty IIPA. As my grandfather so accurately put it, "This beer could be a meal in itself."