Port Brewing Wipeout IPA

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

22oz bottle from Port Brewing
Pours with a brilliantly clear, richly, reddish copper color. It is topped by a frothy, initially two-finger thick, tan colored head. A fresh hoppy aroma is here; notes of candied orange peel, ruby-red grapefruit, lychee and notes of apricot and peach are all noticeable here. Interestingly enough, even when intensely examined, the citrus aromatics linger on and refuses to let me get at any underlying malt character.

The taste is only lightly sweet up front. Punchy hop notes jump out immediately at me. A more intense sweetness becomes noticeable, magnifying the citrus hop components that make up the flavor profile of this beer. Loud notes of sweet tangerines, oranges, grapefruit and smoother fruit note of apricot, lychee and even some tropical fruit notes are noticeable. This beer is definitely intensely hopped; bitingly raw and hoppy notes of pine, menthol and a lingeringly herbal character that leans towards mint at times. A huge, lingering, astringently bitter note dominates the finish and continues on in my taste buds long after the beer has left my mouth.

The striking thing about this beer is that it is perfectly hopped for its gravity. By which I mean this beer clearly has lots of hops, yet it never gets to be too much. It has a perfect balance such that the hops are not more than the malt can handle. There is not a whole lot of malt character noticeable here; it is just enough malt to allow the ample hops to shine and dominate.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Tucson, AZ

Bottle (65 cl) from Ölbutikken. Hazy deep golden, large rocky white head. Hoppy aroma with notes of citrus, pine, some dark berries as well. Very clean malt profile. Medium bodied, low to medium carbonation. Dry with a long earthy bitterness. Very pleasant IPA.

22 ounce bottle courtesy of cdumler. Pours a orangish brown color. Hazy with a large head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma is caramel, citrus hops, pineapple and peach. Taste is bitter citrus hops, with pine notes. Nice malt backbone. Full bodied.

22oz Bomber – Gravity Room – Olympia, WA
Aroma – Had a deep IPA hopped up aroma. Great for us in the NW
Appearance – Deep amber brown, clear and with a thin head
Flavor – This was a great IPA to drink. Had some good malts in the background. The hops where flavorful and tasty.
Palate – Had some good flavors the hops and malts where a good match.
Overall –This was a great IPA with a good flavor and finish. A great beer to try. Port has become a great brewed beer.

650 mL bottle. Cloudy orange amber with foamy white head and good lacing. Aroma of pine and citrus. Thick well carbonated palate. Sweet grapefruit and caramel taste up front with a good piney bitterness to the finish.

Bottle courtesy of Bu11zeye: Poured an hazy brown color ale with a big foamy head with better then average retention. Aroma of deep citrus hops with some piney notes. Taste is also dominated by huge citrusy hops with some great caramel malt to back-up the whole thing together. Body is above average with some medium filtration and some adequate carbonation. Overall, a good west coast interpretation of the style but nothing earth shattering either.

Bottle from Tops Liquors, Phoenix. The pour was standard, golden with some amber, only an ok initial head, lacing decent. The aroma, though, took off, lots of citrus, grapefruits, some melons and pine. The flavor was full grapefruit, citrus, melons, pine, wonderful crystal malts underneath? This was another Port production that made me think of Stone IPA, so wonderful, my kind of IPA, yet at least this bottle wasn’t as good looking. Nice Stuff, great clean and refreshing mouthfeel for the summer months that are upon us.

This IPA pours with a golden body topped by a medium thick, lasting head with good lacing left behind. Teh aroma is sweet yet sour and slightly bitter from hops and full of grapefruit with a touch of pine. The flavor is slightly sweet but full of hoppy bitterness as well as grapefruity and piney with the slightest hint of malt. Medium bodied, smooth and slightly dry.