Port Brewing High Tide Fresh Hop IPA

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
San Marcos, California USA

Cold bottle from Lone Hill - from the case to my mouth with only the crisp night air in between. Had a great experience with this one: aroma is of sweet cream, nice smooth hops and tender young flowers like jasmine or orange blossoms (without the orange). Both aroma and flavor were blended perfectly for me, and the whole thing drank like it was part milkshake. Very well done.

(Rating #4600) Bottle ... Cloudy yellow ale with a mid-sized, creamy, white head. Sweet, perfumey aroma with additional notes of tropical fruit and a light whiff of apple juice. Medium to full-bodied and mildly creamy with laid-back carbonation. Leans on the bitter side of balance. Lots of residual sugar, but even more hop bitterness. Finishes tannic, bitter and dry.

Hazy gold, orange in the center, thin dense white head with floaties. Mmmmm.....floaties......Meyer lemon and grapefruit on the nose. More grapefruit in the sip, like where the flesh meets the rind, though not astringent in the finish. Somewhat juicy finish, clean, fresh and ripe.

Bottle. Pours cloudy light amber. Big and pungent fruit punchy hops - pineapple, passionfruit, orange - in the aroma. Flavor has substantial sweetish malt body against a cavalcade of hop flavors - pine, tropical fruit, mellow fruitiness. Palate is lightly sticky with lingering bitterness. This is excellent, truly the frontier of west coast ipas. Not over the top, just a different kind of animal. Well balanced, nuanced and exhilarating.

Bottle. Pours a very cloudy, bubbly straw yellow. A very frothy white head. Sweet hoppy floral nose. Incredibly smooth with a late then long bitter finish. Flavorful fresh hops. Some pine, some fruit flavors, maybe pineapple. Excellent beer! Thank goodness Port Brewing and bottling more and more delicious treats!

Bottle. Pours with a largish, rocky white head and murky, deep golden body. Head leaves very good lacing. Aroma of pineapple, mango and apricot (hops both spicey and fruity). Taste is lightly hop bitterness, although hoppy esters all the way through. Light bubbles and creamy mouthfeel. Tomme did a great job on this year’s batch. Smells nearly as good as Sculpin (and as fruity), but does not have the amazing exotic taste to back it up. Good stuff!

22oz bottle, the second this evening. Nice hazy yellow/ straw color with a very nice big white head dwindling to some very nice lace. The Aroma is floral, citrus, pine, fresh! Flavor is fresh hops, citrus, flowery, malty sweetness, very very well balanced complex beer. Fresh, bright, crisp, this is what an IPA is all about! It was an eye opener last year, this year I’ve been waiting for this one from one of my all time favorite brew pubs. Had it on tap last Sunday at the new very cool Blue Palms in Hollywood, an incredible experience! Bottle or tap.

Bomber from Hi-Times. Nice gold pour with a quickly dissipating head. Despite that, there is some solid lacing. Nose of extremely fresh pine and citrus. Flavor is a solid hop/grapefruit charge with a slight sweetness to keep it from being overbearing. Excellent showing.