Bitter End India Pale Ale
Port Townsend Brewing Company

 

 

 

22 Oz bottle. No bottling info

(This doesn't have anything to do with the beer or my rating for it, but the artwork on the bottle depicting a guy in a lifeboat is very clever !)

Pours a hazy fall orange body with a slightly off white head. Good lacing, some retention.

I'm greeted with a slightly astringent scent as I poured it. This went away quickly and was replaced by an applesauce bread malt scent.A minuscule amount of orange citrus was detected as well. Overall scent was not very prominent.

I don't know what to make of the taste of this beer. I'm normally a huge fan of bitterness (I like my beer bitter like my ex wife) but there is a lingering bitter aftertaste that doesn't work for me. I'm getting a little malt but not enough to balance it.

Kinda watery feel

Value (doesn't effect overall score) For $6.99 this wasn't a good value.

Overall; Well... The artwork was outstanding...
But now I understand all the poor ratings. They were going for a re creation of the original extra hopped ale that England was shipping to India (that became IPA's). But the balance is out of wack for modern tastes. I can appreciate history, but this is a one and done for me. Still, it was nice to taste history...once.

 

Not bad. Not great. Astringent mouthfeel that lingers. Not a pleasant bitterness. Aftertaste left me wishing it would just go away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sampled from a 22oz bottle purchased at Gravity Beer Market in Olympia, WA.

A - Straw colored with a slight haze and a big white head. It leaves some nice lacing behind.

S - Grassy, floral hops.

T - A mild flavor with a mediocre citrusy bitterness. It wasn't unpleasant but it was a bit weak for a west coast IPA. I saw the BA rating before reviewing it and wanted this beer to prove those reviews wrong but sadly they weren't far off.

M - A moderate, silky consistency and a low to moderate carbonation.

D - Easy to drink but not all that compelling. I'd readily move on to something else.

Pours a cloudy pale orange color.

Smells more of what you would expect in an American Pale Ale. Light citrus and floral aromas. Nothing in your face at all.

Starts really sweet, almost candy like. No malt flavors. The odd thing is that the beer seems quite watery. Bitter, but the hops just aren't there. Very mild orange and flower blossom flavors. Fermentation does not seem to be all that clean either. Finish is very bitter.

Overall this beer is not really up to snuff. Flavor really makes this beer hard to drink. Bitter sugar water.

I bought bomber of Port Townsend IPA in a grocery store while vacationing on the Olympic Peninsula.

I'll ditto Skyhand on this remark:
"This isn't called the Bitter End IPA but my bottle is identical to the photo here, so I'll just stick my review in this slot and assume it's all dandy."

Poured in to a pint glass.

Pours a pale gold color and is very hazy. Medium bodied bubbly white head, and average lacing. The head is a bit weak for the style.

Smell is curiously earthy. Not the hop and pine scents I expected. A fresh bread aroma is there, with some faint fruity citrus fragrances.

Taste is sweet with a honey flavor up front, then a little hoppy bitterness on the swallow.

Mouthfeel is smooth and a bit cloying. Mild carbonation. Not a real crisp drinking experience.

This is a nice beer, and drinkable, but not a great representation of the style. A little too sweet and a little too malty to be a great American IPA. Good drinking though.

As with most Port Townsend beers, this one was undercarbonated and showed no head or lace. It threw a sinewy, herbaceous aroma and delivered a curious flavor that was lemony and complex with notes of black tea. An unemphasized hop character caused Bitter End to come across as more of a pale ale or English bitter than an IPA, at least not a Northwest IPA.

This is a clean and approachable beer but the flavor seems mute and fatigued. A bit more vigor would inspire greater enthusiasm.

Nice old school label with a guy in a lookout on a boat yelling "there she brews". Good touch for a small northwest town to the northwest of Seattle.

Pours a hazy copper to golden. Aggressively poured achieves minimal results. lacing saves it from duldrums.

Some hop zips through this light mouthfeel brew. sticks around for a bit in the back of your throat. I don't know man this is way below average for the style. I purchased this on a trip to Seattle and after sampling some fine brews from the area this was a bit dissapointing. Taste was ok, very drinkable just not complete.

Pours a very clear amber color, no haze whatsoever, with a somewhat reluctant but thick and fluffy eggshell head. One or two tiny bubbles rise. The head leaves behind some persistent lacing.

There's almost no smell here; What I do get is just a little honeyed malts - barely anything at all, and no discernable hop prescence in it.

Mild honeyed biscuit malts roll over the tongue for a long while, then there's a tiny bite of grapefruit on the swallow; A few breaths reveal a somewhat bitter aftertaste character. It tastes reasonably good, but seems rather watered down, especially for an IPA. The hop character isn't anywhere near as aromatic or flavorful as it should be, and the flavors are different than those in most northwest IPAs, a bit more English in style.

Watery sort of mouthfeel, mildly smooth, with little carbonation; A slightly clingy aftertaste.

This is tasty enough and has enough character to be easy to drink, but it's not my pick; I suppose it's a good lawnmower IPA.