Everyday Enjoyment
Pizza Port Solana Beach

 

 

Another solid entry by Pizza Port in the West Coast IPA category. It doesn't taste much different than a lot of their WCIPAs, but here you go:

Looks:
Looks great! Somewhat hazy yellow/slightly orange, two fingers dense head. Looks very well crafted.

Nose:
Tons of hops. Funky, grassy, stonefruits...quite dank with a little of that garlic smell I get sometimes in hoppy IPAs (not a bad smell at all, just reminds me a bit of garlic, it's the NZ Cascade I think).

Anyway, smells pretty dank, especially as it heats up!

Taste:
The scents come through on the tongue too: there is a delicious, sweet fruitiness on the front of the tongue and then on the middle and back of the tongue I get that grassy, dank, and even berry flavors. The funkiness and "dankiness" definitely remind me of Mosaic, but this beer doesn't have mosaic so it's coming from either NZ Cascade, Chinook, or the strata...or some combination thereof. Anyway, it's pretty remarkable.

Mouthfeel:
Creamy and medium-bodied, but it finishes on the dryer side as it should for the style. Excellent!

OVERALL:
A delicious WCIPA that I would recommend!

Packaged on September 19th, 2023 - enjoyed on October 14th, 2023 - poured from a pint can into my Dogfish Head shaped pint glass.

Clear gold body with a soft half finger of champagne/white foam. Soapy lacing; decent retention.

Citrus (yuzu, lemon, tangerine) and light berry in the nose.

Sweet, moderately bitter palate entry - fruit forward with an herbal edge. Strawberry, peach, and apple-candy. Medium-dry finish with a hint of pine. A little surprised to see Strata and Chinook together - makes for an interesting if slightly conflicting flavor profile. Clean malt bill, neutral yeast.

Medium-light bodied, slippery but zesty mouth-feel with decent carbonation.

Not bad, but not worth seeking out or paying more for than Swami's - among the many seasonal WCIPA variants Pizza Port has put out, this is not among my favorites.

Can poured into a Mountain Rambler Brewery pint glass

A: Pours golden yellow with a frothy off white head that settles to a firm layer and laces nicely.

S: Resinous spicy pine, herbal, citrus zest, a bit earthy, a touch grassy, underlying tropical and stone fruit, and biscuity bready malt.

T: Herbal, earthy, resinous, spicy pine, citrus, lime, grapefruit, and orange, underlying tropical and stone fruit, passion fruit, apricot, peach, melon, and strawberry, biscuity bready malt, and a fairly dry finish.

M: Medium body, moderate carbonation, crisp and dry.

O: I'm personally not in love with how prominent the earthy herbal side is here, (probably wouldn't be an Everyday beer for me), but it's still a solid proper Westy.

Pours a clear amber with abundant foam in the big Karmeliet goblet. Aroma of tangerine and lemon peel. Tangy and candy-like sensation at the start followed by a resiny and piney taste. Flavors of peach, mango, and the rest of the fruit salad along with a moderately acidic finish. This is massively fruity, but still has that distinct and inescapable bitter finish you expect from Pizza Port. It's just so clean and drinkable even with all the hops. From the 16 oz can purchased in the far Northwest. Dated 09/05/23, a month ago.

 

 

Pours golden clear with billowing white foamy crown from tall animated pint can to pint glass. Light and tropical on the nose with bursting NZ Cascade, Chinook, and Strata hops with notes of pine, peach and citrus orange. Another really nice signature West Coast IPA from Pizza Port at 7% ABV.

 

if I gave you a fresh cold one of these in a glass and you didn't know what it was, but you just started drinking it you would likely come to the same conclusion as me that this is a damn good classic style West Coast IPA, and my hat's off to the people down there in San Diego that know how to make it. Enjoy!!

canned 7/24/23. poured 3 weeks later. Nice looking beer with 1-1/2 finger white fluffy head over deep gold, clear goodness. Sticky lacing. Not a lot of smell, but some complex flavors. I had to read the brewer’s description, but I can imagine pretty much being what I taste, although it may be the power of suggestion more than real perception. Definite hop bitterness that is fairly assertive without this being overtly a “drink with food” beer. Medium body. Clean finish with some lingering bitterness.

Can’t say it’s a favorite because of the dreaded addition of strata. I mean, I’ll rage with Fellini down La Strada, but that’s about it. For me, this dreaded hop is like the guy at the party that is overly animated and trying too hard - and for that, Endless Enjoyment has me thinking of going home a bit early.

Good day!