The Optimist
Fort George Brewery + Public House

Tall pint from draft at the brewpub in Astoria. Classic dry, pungent, funky WCIPA. Heavy citrus and even a bit creamy. Fresh mango stands out. Pretty standard version of the style and tasty but nothing mind blowing. Their other WCIPA options are better, although stronger.

 

Maybe I’m not much of an IPA man.... maybe I just haven’t spent much time with the style.... but it really does seem to me that “generic” has no better a subject than the American IPA. Look, this is a good beer, it really is! It’s pleasantly floral, not overwhelmingly hoppy(perhaps to the dissatisfaction of some), well balanced, refreshing.... but it could be the same IPA I had yesterday, or last week, or whenever. It’s good, but it’s nothing new, nothing outstanding, nothing that makes me want to switch from drinking stouts for. But, not everything can be everything.

Unfiltered golden yellow body. A bit overcarbonated, 3 finger head. Pine, caramel, herbal resin, lemon citrus. A fair bit of slightly floral bitterness on the backend. West coast IPA, fairly simple and straightforward. Medium lighter body.

 

Undertones

12oz can served in a pint glass. Medium yellow in color, mostly clear, thin head formation. Oldschool floral IPA aroma. Flavor is alpha-forward and astringent, with some crystal to provide a caramelly note and maybe some wheat to thin it out. Or flaked corn, actually.

Good enough IPA from a better than average brewery. I'd probably seek out their other IPAs before this one again.

Ah, yes. A NWIPA! Imagine that. Why, living here about 90 minutes from Astoria, I've no idea such things could be had here!

A nice, well-crafted IPA. Clear, touch of haze which is personally how we prefer our beer, but YMMV. Floral nose, light head, solid hop-forward taste with plenty of taste. A good offering, hard to stand head and shoulder above this crowd.

At least for me personally, this has far too much malt. It’s fine, but I won’t be buying it again. Fort George does so many good beers and even a few great ones, so with that bar being so high this beer definitely missed the mark.

 

 

 

Poured from a 12 oz can and canned approx 8 weeks ago
L - Pale golden, slightly opaque
S - bread, bisquit? Not much fruit
T - Malt overpowers the hops
F - meh....not much to talk about

I love the brewery and some of their other offerings but I hate IPA's with a malt-forward taste, which this one has. I would not seek this out again.

 

 

12oz can poured into 14oz teku. Poured a cloudy light orange color with 3/4 inch of white head that had good retention and light lacing.

The aroma had citrus and light pine hop notes upfront, with a very light grain background.

Pretty similar on the tongue, with the malt having a bit more of a presence.

The body was on the light side of medium, and had a semi-dry finish.

Drinkability was fine, no issues.

Overall, a solid and enjoyable brew.

 

 

not as cloudy and dense looking as some of their other hoppy beers i have had recently, but not clear either, a slightly deeper color to it, a great head from the can rising above the rim of the glass and holding on well, and an awesome nose of very fresh northwestern hops, a little less interesting and intriguing to me than say their city of dreams or the recent fields of green were, but appealing nevertheless, and somewhat more classically styled in that regard. some pine, some bitter orange, and lots of resinous oils and richness from the hops swirling around in here, fresh as can be from the can too, tastes brand new to me. i get subtle grapefruit, but not a lot of bitterness there, gin botanicals, and some sweet fleshy orange as well, good balance from the grain but definitely drier in the finish. fuller medium body, long flavor journey, hop linger on the tongue after the swallow, a little green, but really appealing. i dont like it anywhere near as much as city of dreams, which i have been really high on lately, but its another very solid hoppy beer from these guys, who seem to be doing hops as well as anyone right now!

12oz can

Pours nearly two fingers of off-white head into my can style glass. Retention is pretty phenomenal, after a few minutes it fell down to about a finger, but has remained there for a long time, with some serious initial lacing. The body is a dark burnt orange, pretty clear considering the dark color. Loads of carbonation coming up, surprising with this glass usually not having much nucleation. Overall looks great so far.

Nose is pretty safe. Citrus is pretty forward, light earthy notes as well. Very faint notes of rich malt, but by no means a sweet smelling IPA. Overall this is a flagship IPA, nothing too crazy.

Definitely more malt forward on the flavor, not too sweet, but very noticeable. Caramel, maybe even honey notes are present. As far as hops go, not too complex – citrus is not as pungent as in the nose, which is actually a good thing here. Other than that, some sharp hops, maybe a hair of dankness. Not bad, I like it more than the nose, but not a huge flavor or complexity bomb.

The mouthfeel is quite nice. Carbonation is about medium, maybe a touch below. Body has some noticeable chew to it, but it drinks very light. Malt sweetness gives character, but doesn’t hit too hard at all, and doesn’t linger. Bitterness is medium and doesn’t linger too much either. Overall a very nice mouthfeel, provides character without compromising drinkability.

As a whole the drinkability is very high here.

The appearance stayed true, and turned out very nice. Lovely thick lacing all the way down the glass. The head hung around in some fashion the entire way down.

Overall a nice beer. The flavor isn’t fancy, but I did start to appreciate the fact that it was drinkable while not being bland.