Portage IPA
Upper Thames Brewing Company
- From:
- Upper Thames Brewing Company
- Ontario, Canada
- Style:
- American IPA
- ABV:
- 5.6%
- Score:
- +4 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 3.36 | pDev: 9.23%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 1
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Mar 03, 2025
- Added:
- Jan 12, 2018
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 1
NO SCORE
-
-
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)
3.25/5 rDev -3.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
3.25/5 rDev -3.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
473 mL can from the LCBO; dated Mar 22 2018 and served slightly chilled. I had no idea there was a brewery in Woodstock - and it's been open for more than a year, too. Some beer geek I am.
Pours a hazy, translucent golden-orange colour, initially supporting one finger of smooth, foamy head that disintegrates steadily over the next five-plus minutes. A patchy cap of froth survives, ringed by a creamy collar and an attractive coat of lacing. Looks good to me. The nose is somewhat less convincing - there's definitely a touch of buttered popcorn/diacetyl in there, which is never a good way to start things off. Beyond that, I'm getting caramelized malt sweetness and quite a bit of green, floral hoppage, with hints of lemon zest and orange peel muddled in amongst it all.
At least it tastes alright - I'm not detecting nearly as much of that popcorn butter compared to what I was getting on the nose. The flavour profile is bolstered by a relatively robust malt backbone, which provides some breadiness and a fair bit of caramel sweetness. Earthy, floral hop flavours begins to overtake the malts early on in the sip, and there's also some orange/grapefruit in there, but I'm getting a lot more of the former vs. the latter. Slightly spicy finish; there's some lingering earthy bitterness in the aftertaste, but it's not particularly intense. Medium-light in body, with average carbonation levels that impart a decent bite; the overall texture is not quite crisp, but not quite smooth either. More of an APA than an IPA, I reckon.
Final Grade: 3.25, a mediocre C+. I wanted to like Portage IPA - hell, I *want* to like every beer I review - but I still need to call a spade a spade, so here it is: this one just isn't that good. The diacetyl is an avoidable bummer, sure, but even if that flaw weren't present I doubt I'd be much more impressed with this beer. It actually reminds me of a bog standard 'Ontario pale ale' circa 2013 - malt-forward, with Cascade (or Cascade-like) hops filling in the remainder. I'll give it another shot eventually, once they've had some time to work out the kinks.
Jun 01, 2018Pours a hazy, translucent golden-orange colour, initially supporting one finger of smooth, foamy head that disintegrates steadily over the next five-plus minutes. A patchy cap of froth survives, ringed by a creamy collar and an attractive coat of lacing. Looks good to me. The nose is somewhat less convincing - there's definitely a touch of buttered popcorn/diacetyl in there, which is never a good way to start things off. Beyond that, I'm getting caramelized malt sweetness and quite a bit of green, floral hoppage, with hints of lemon zest and orange peel muddled in amongst it all.
At least it tastes alright - I'm not detecting nearly as much of that popcorn butter compared to what I was getting on the nose. The flavour profile is bolstered by a relatively robust malt backbone, which provides some breadiness and a fair bit of caramel sweetness. Earthy, floral hop flavours begins to overtake the malts early on in the sip, and there's also some orange/grapefruit in there, but I'm getting a lot more of the former vs. the latter. Slightly spicy finish; there's some lingering earthy bitterness in the aftertaste, but it's not particularly intense. Medium-light in body, with average carbonation levels that impart a decent bite; the overall texture is not quite crisp, but not quite smooth either. More of an APA than an IPA, I reckon.
Final Grade: 3.25, a mediocre C+. I wanted to like Portage IPA - hell, I *want* to like every beer I review - but I still need to call a spade a spade, so here it is: this one just isn't that good. The diacetyl is an avoidable bummer, sure, but even if that flaw weren't present I doubt I'd be much more impressed with this beer. It actually reminds me of a bog standard 'Ontario pale ale' circa 2013 - malt-forward, with Cascade (or Cascade-like) hops filling in the remainder. I'll give it another shot eventually, once they've had some time to work out the kinks.
Rated by Pmicdee from Canada (ON)
3.85/5 rDev +14.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.85/5 rDev +14.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
May 12 2025
Jan 12, 2018
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