Fish Alley
Ludlam Island Brewery

12oz can into a pint glass. No freshness dating.

Nice looking pint, crystal clear light amber body, generous white head, excellent lacing. Aroma is quite hoppy, touch of pine. On tasting, first word that comes to mind is balance. It favors the hop, but a strong slightly sweet malt body. Finish is short lived.

Overall, pretty good easy to drink old school ipa, with a nice balance.

Poured from a tap into a clear pint glass, it shows a bright and light, but solid amber. Not opaque, but it's at least only semi-translucent. Its aroma is of dank hops, but not strong at all. As for taste, this is just a little unbalanced with more hops than malt to the overall. As an AIPA, that isn't necessarily a bad thing, just to be mentioned when attempting to describe the taste. Those hops are both dank and bitter and they finish nicely clean. The lack of malt has to impact the mouthfeel adversely, but that is mitigated by a nearly unnoticed 7% ABV. This is just a little short of complexity in tastes to be great. Currently, it's only available in a limited market area, so if you're in it, try one.

On draught at Surf Dog Bar & Grill. Served in a plastic cup (during COVID restrictions). It pours a cloudy, dirty orange color with a creamy, bright white head and thick lacing. It looked like a nitro pour but it wasn't. Not much to the nose - it's malty with subtle lemon and grapefruit. The taste opens with malt sweetness and tart lemon and grapefruit. As the glass warms there are increasing notes of orange and pine needles. It has a really nice mouth feel - creamy and fairly viscous with pleasant carbonation. And it drinks easily at 7% ABV. Overall, Fish Alley grew on me as I sipped it with an appetizer of spicy alligator bites. I'll have to try this from the can and may update my review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Served from a 32oz crowler into a shaker pint glass. Pours a near-turbid amber color with a fluffy white head that settles into a thin lacing, Herbal hop aromas with a bit of lemon. Not very pungent at all. Flavor is subdued for a NE-style IPA (this is what this beer is trying to be, per their website), with herbal, grassy hop bitterness with subtle notes of lemon and orange. Not fruity at all, closer to a "classic" New England IPA along the lines of Harpoon or Smuttynose except those beers had nicer balance and not a empty malt backbone like this one. Mouthfeel is slightly sticky with no dryness. This reminds me of a homebrewers attempt at a modern NE-style IPA. Seems like the recipe needs some tweaking, perhaps later hop additions in the boil? Perhaps more of the newer varietals? Regardless, as it currently stands it is subpar and underwhelming.