Hop Tramp
10 Torr Distilling and Brewing

a sturdy and flavorful ipa, a little odd in the ferment, like it almost hits a fruity ester to me, more obvious as it warms, unintentional i would guess, fermented warmer than it needed to be i think, not trying to be a belgian ipa or anything from my understanding, but its actually compatible with the hops, this presents as fresh and bold, and its an enjoyable drink despite its lack of conventional tidiness. rich golden to brassy colored beer, some shine to it and near clear, close to an inch of soapy white head on top with fine retention, good carbonation activity throughout. the aroma on this is piney, with some subtle mango and apricot fruitiness, a little lemon and orange, a white wine note perhaps from the ferment, juniper, sage, and even a quick hit of dill or something, its herbal as well as it is fruity and piney, the grain is fresh and simple, balancing without making it heavy, alcohol is well hidden, light toast and honey. the flavor is all of this, definite pine and even weedy dankness early, resinous without being too heavy or sticky in feel. peach and mandarin oranges from the can in the middle, a little zizzle of almost phenolic character from the ferment creeps in, copper minerality, light spiciness, and a tropical and tea type finish, distinctive but with some familiarity too, grapefruit zest and tangerine as it warms, medium bodied with some biscuity but not quite caramelized barley presence, nice and fresh, i think if they could snap up the ferment a little on this they would really have something, its nice as it is though too, and maybe i am being overly critical there, some of that could be hop derived. overall a modern and dynamic west coast ipa with the right amount of bitterness and a cool hop profile.

Pours a copper and amber color, 1/2" white head on the top. Looks good. The aroma seems devoid of hops. I dunno what the deal is with their beers or if it was my nose, but just wasn't getting it on this trip.

Now this one did have a good degree of bitterness, thereby confirming I could at least taste hops, if not smell them. Seemed to be in that 70ibu range. Not overly malty, this one followed the west coast india pale ale archtype in that regard at least.

So I dunno, this one could be good, but its the same problem with all of their "hoppy" beers: They don't smell and barely taste like they are hoppy. Other than that, they seem to follow the general pale ale playbook, aside from maybe the malt is a little more toasted than average, not a big deal.