Hoplust IPA
Rockford Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great looking east-meets-west IPA body, with dark copper coloring, an opaque/chill haze body, and a big, pillowy off-white head of differentiated bubbles that holds its form quite well and clings to the glass like soap. Very attractive.

Aromas are pretty sparse and muted, so this is where I'll note that I don't know how old the bottle is (no bottling date) but I'm guessing it's 5-7 weeks old, which perhaps accounts for some of the dampened hops -- or perhaps this is just the beer. Regardless, there's certainly some citrus, dank grass, pine resin, and a ton of biscuity malt. Leans West Coast in terms of the profile, but it's very subdued and extremely mild.

Taste is basically the same, and possibly even more uninteresting. Bitter pine and citrus pith, almost no sweetness, a little grassiness and wheat bread. I like a bitter IPA if it has some other things working for it, but this one is like chewing on a grapefruit skin with sharp, raw bitterness and nothing to balance it out. It's not a bad beer, and I could see it being an interesting pairing with certain types of food. But it's too one-dimensional in a world of more and more incredibly complex (aromatics and flavors) hoppy beers.

Feel is about average for a 7% IPA, possibly a little thin, but is very nicely carbonated, non-sticky but still soft and coating.

Nice Midwest IPA with some good flavor and drinkability. Nice copper color with just a little lingering head and not much lacing. Smells of citrus fruity hops and some more faint piney hops. Tastes of fruity hops - orange, tangerine, lemon, passionfruit, pineapple - as well as a little piney hops, vanilla, caramel and malt. Nice smooth mild mouthfeel, good carbonation. Flavors and aromas open up a little as the beer warms. Very nice IPA that I would definitely try again.

 

took notes while on vacation. last single from the beverage company in traverse city. 12oz bottle poured into clear hotel cup. bottling date on bottom is smudged. looks like 07/??/18 or maybe 05/??/18

Appearance- crystal clear amber color with a slight frothy off white head.

Aroma- citrus (grapefruit and orange), and pine. what an ipa should smell like...HOPS!

Taste- hops from the nose are muted in the flavor. also get a soft caramel malt presence. abv is well hidden.

Mouthfeel- soild medium body. good carbonation.

Drinkability- should've looked if they had a sixer of this.

Overall- even tho i think the whole contract brewing is mega d-baggery this brew is good. i should actually be thanking the brewery in pennsylvania for this. like the old school hop character. not tropical or some exotic fruit.

 

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, no bottle dating. Pours slightly hazy deep golden amber color with a 1-2 finger dense and rocky off white head with fatnastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Nice thick soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of mandarin orange, grapefruit, lemon, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, berry, citrus peel/zest, light pepper/pine, toasted bread, light caramel, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical hops and moderate bready malt notes; with good strength. Taste of big mandarin orange, grapefruit, lemon, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, berry, citrus peel/zest, light pepper, pine, toasted bread, light caramel, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Lingering notes of mandarin orange, grapefruit, lemon, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, berry, citrus peel/rind, pepper, pine, toasted bread, light caramel, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate bready malt flavors; with an awesome malt/bitterness balance, and no lingering hop astringency after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from bitterness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/sticky, and fairly crisp/resinous/rindy balanced mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 7.1%. Overall this is an awesome IPA! All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate bready malt flavors; very smooth, crisp, and easy to drink with the modestly bitter/resinous/drying finish, not overly aggressive. They state 6 hops; and this is probably Simcoe, Citra, Amarillo, and 3 of the C's. Very juicy and fairly dank/earthy hop complexity; nice bready malt backbone, with minimal residual sweetness. A really enjoyable offering, and spot on Midwest style IPA.

 

 

 

 

Pours copper. Foamy, medium, off white head lasts a while.

Smells bready malt, herbal, pine and citrus.

Tastes bready malt, herbal and citrus peel. Followed by bitter pine. Finish is dry with pine and citrus linger. Medium body and fizzy medium carbonation.