Fort Gorges
Rising Tide Brewing Company

Can: Poured a clear golden color ale with a large white foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of cereal with light dry hoppy notes. Taste is also a mix of light hoppty citrusy notes with some cereal notes and light residual sugar notes. Body is average with OK carbonation. More akin to a pale athan an IPA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've had a few of Rising Tide's newer IPAs (which almost all seem to have some experimental element to them, whether it be from unusual hops or other adjuncts), and though they're mostly good, I recall one or two that I wasn't a big fan of. Therefore, I had to do a bit of research into what makes this one tick before I bought it. Their site says this is brewed with Carapils, a couple kinds of 2-row malt, and raw wheat, along with Cascade, Strata, and Eureka! hops, as well as an experimental varietal from Hopsteiner called, as of now, #07270. This hop apparently has a very spicy and lightly citrusy flavor and aroma, so I'm kind of interested in where this one's going right off the bat.

It pours a very light yellow-ish golden color with a fluffy yet loose head of bone-white foam that appears to bubble up quickly and sink with the same alacrity to about a half-finger after only a few minutes in my glass. The fuzzy head leaves behind a bit of non-specific lace and doesn't seem to have much in the way of legs, but overall this is a decent-enough looking beer. I do have to say I wasn't expecting it to be so light, but it has a nice haziness to it overall, and it certainly looks the part in general.

The nose is incredibly dank and rather pine-y/resinous. Light notes of mango, pineapple and other tropical fruits mingle with a bit of orange peel/rind and grapefruit-like tart fleshiness. Really enjoying the aroma on this one! The combination of Strata, Eureka!, and the experimental variety really catapult this into the realm of intensity, giving off a very spicy, earthy overtone which melds well with the candied fruit notes. I'm impressed right off the bat.

On the tongue, this is also quite nice with a good combination of fruity, deeply-tropical flavors and grassy earthiness. Of course, there's more than a bit of resin and dank green-ness going on here, but it's mostly upfront and fades away in the finish where the pineapple, papaya, and mango take over. Lingering fruit flavor and herbal notes last a decent amount of time... I can still taste the hoppiness on my tongue for over a full minute after each sip! The feel here is a little bit overly-heavy, however, in my opinion. I wish this were a touch crisper and less dense, as the wheat gives a nice amount of body but also seems to make it less drinkable at the end of the day. For a beer that's only 6.1% and with such nice hop flavor to boot, I just want it to be something that goes down a bit easier. That said, this is quite a good beer, and one I would definitely return to in the future.