It seems somewhat disingenuous to only be celebrating the third anniversary of PORT BREWING; after all, this outfit (also tangentially responsible for the incredible LOST ABBEY series of beers) was well-known to Southern California beer lovers as PIZZA PORT for many years before that. One of their stocks-in-trade has been the India Pale Ale, or what some people down there call “San Diego-style” IPAs. I reckon this style of IPA is characterized by loads of hops, a general freshness, and a big citrus taste – yeah, exactly like any other good IPA, whether it’s from Encinitas, La Jolla, King of Prussia or Burton-on-Trent.PORT BREWING 3RD ANNIVERSARY ALE is a nice correction after my experience with the last two highly-touted IPAs these guys came up with. I didn’t dig the 2ND ANNIVERSARY ALE; I thought HOP 15 was pretty foul as well. I’ve been waiting for a PORT BREWING India Pale Ale that could hit the lofty heights established by a beer I got to try twice three years ago called HOP SUEY. This, my friends, is very nearly that beer. This is creamy, delicious IPA, clocking in at 10% alcohol and therefore a "double". Fantastic mouthfeel, and very, very loaded with hops, which tend to be on the piney side of the equation. Wonderful aroma all around, and the overarching theme of this excellent beer is “fresh”. This is the sort of taste I’m after when I blindly grab IPAs from the shelf, and I love it when it delivers this well. 8/10.
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1 comment:
Maybe a bit confusing, but Pizza Port and Port Brewing is not the same thing. Pizza Port started out with doing pizza only in 1987 which then was added with a 7 barrel brewery in 1992. The original location has later been added with 2 additional locations all brewing separately at the locations.
Port Brewing is a new brewery company not directly connected with Pizza Port, only connection is that Vince & Gina Marsaglia who own 100% of Pizza Port also is a major owner in the new brewery. But they also have other owners including Tomme Arthur the former head brewer at Pizza Port.
The idea with the new brewery was to be able to also produce beers outside Pizza Port and the restaurants, but it is a separate brewery and company that was actually started in 2006.
Then to add Lost Abbey to the mix, this is not actually a brewery, instead only a personal project of Tomme Arthur brewed at the new Port Brewery.
You probably know that already, but I just wanted to be clear so that it is quite natural to have a 3 year anniversary as a brewery (located a the Stone Brewerie's original located after they moved to escondido in the same year (06).
Cheers
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