Hop Bomber Pale Ale - Rivertown Brewing Co.

phiberoptik

Ohio

3.15/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Local brewery time... I had to give it a review.

Poured 12oz bottle into a standard pint glass. This pours a very clear copper/amber color with a two finger white foamy head. The head seems to hang around a bit too but not much in the line of lacing.

This doesnt smell or taste like an ale. It actually reminds me of Sam Adams lager more than a hop front ale. It smells slightly musty and not any clear hop character, despite its name. Tastes of spice, malts, and some bitterness with very little hoppiness otherwise.

Feels pretty clean and nicely carbonated.

I want this to be good, being from Cincinnati but I am not a fan. Maybe I got a bad batch... something tastes off. I will update this review if I try it again and notice a difference.

Serving type: bottle

07-15-2011 22:33:24 | More by phiberoptik

beerman207

Kentucky

3.13/5  rDev -9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A - Clear reddish color that has a nice white head that sticks around a little while.

S - Definitely could be better here. Can't really pick much up other than malt and some faint hops.

T - Some rye and some bitterness that isn't strong enough in my opinion.

M: Decent but nothing special

D: Can't say I'd try this one again. However, being a Cincinnati brew, I had to try it.

Serving type: bottle

04-27-2010 16:25:40 | More by beerman207

alpinebryant

Connecticut

3.1/5  rDev -9.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pour is almost a brown ale color. Dark copper with a large fluffy tan head.

Smell of caramel and malt. Taste of mainly roasted malts , Caramel and brown malt flavors. Pretty dry and malty, almost an English Pale in terms of hop flavor and aromas. A change of pace for a Pale Ale. Its not quite pale and its not quite as hoppy as I imagined with a name of Hop Bomber.

Medium carbonation and a relatively thick mouthfeel for a pale ale.

Serving type: bottle

05-18-2010 00:06:45 | More by alpinebryant

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

3.05/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

This beer looks nice, but it smells like hairspray. The taste of it is, okay. It's just an odd mesh of thick malts that don't really show this as a pale ale. Where are the hops? Where's the attitude? Not here. A pretty forgettable beer, and more waste of my time and money. (This whole driving south thing hasn't panned out on the beer front so well on much of these brews.)

Serving type: bottle

12-09-2012 05:13:05 | More by RblWthACoz

DrinkinBoy

Georgia

3.03/5  rDev -11.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A - Pours a deep amber to light copper. Thick head with good retention appears an off-white color. Did have some sediment in it.

S - Aroma consists of hoppy resin with some slight fruit candy and caramel tones.

T - Light sweetness and tiny bit of roast on the front with a lack of a mid palate presence. Finish with expected hop bitterness for style, but without any nuances.

M - Slightly lighter than expected, with appropriate carbonation.

O - Overall this beer is a pretty average APA. There is some slight complexities which makes it just interesting enough to keep you attention. But in a market full of Pales, this one doesn't really stand out in a good or bad way. Worth a try, if you like to try things from all around.

Serving type: bottle

06-03-2012 05:15:25 | More by DrinkinBoy

jurban

Ohio

3/5  rDev -12.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Hops hit quickly but then there is a smooth and watery, but nice finish. Alcohol taste is minimal. Has a bit of an unpleasant after taste. Overall the taste is remenscent of a watered down ipa. Makes a good session beer due to its lower alchohol content and non-overwhelming flavor.

Serving type: bottle

01-17-2012 02:27:29 | More by jurban

zeledonia

Minnesota

2.95/5  rDev -14.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Another BIF bottle, and another brewery that's totally new to me.

Pours a medium coppery amber, quite clear, and on the dark side for a "pale ale". One finger of light yellowish tan light, decent retention, and some nice gobs of lacing left on the glass.

Smells nice and balanced. Sweet malts come through most clearly, with some dark fruit and nut. The hops aren't super aromatic, adding mainly a crispness and light airy feel to the aroma. Interesting.

Taste is a little flat. Half-way through, when I want it to pick up and bring me something new, it just fades off. There isn't much to hang onto here - I find it bland, with a very light touch of hops in the back end. The bitterness actually builds after most of the other flavors are gone, but that doesn't salvage it for me. Just not very flavorful, in any way.

Mouthfeel is fine. Medium-bodied, enough carbonation. No complaints here.

I find this beer... uninteresting. There's just not much that I can point to that I like about it. Maybe I'm getting too accustomed to aggressively dry-hopped pale ales, but this beer, while fine and drinkable, doesn't present much.

Serving type: bottle

06-01-2012 03:21:33 | More by zeledonia

WoodBrew

Illinois

2.93/5  rDev -14.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

I was able to try RiverTown's Hop Bomber during a recent visit to Cleveland. The beer poured a clear, copper/gold in color, with a nice head of frothy, off-white foam which laced. The scent included grain, toasted malt. The taste was mostly toasted malt with earthy hop note and hop-leaf flavor add balance. The mouthfeel was light to medium body with decent carbonation. Overall it was ok but I was expecting more.

Serving type: bottle

01-22-2012 16:22:27 | More by WoodBrew

jmarsh123

Indiana

2.88/5  rDev -16.3%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2.5

Pours a clear deep amber with barely any head or lacing.

Sweet malts and just a hint of citrus/earthy hops.

A bit of a citrus hit at first, followed by sweet bready/caramel malt finishing with a buttered popcorn flavor and slightly bitter. Kind of odd.

Thin and watery. Not the highlight of the beer.

Not terribly great. Outside of the butter flavor it isn't too bad, but very mediocre aroma and mouthfeel.

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2012 23:56:41 | More by jmarsh123

ajanesz

Kentucky

2.88/5  rDev -16.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Served from a bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance - Dark golden bronze in color with two fingers of creamy yellow white head that sticks around. Rather murky but nicely carbonated. Nice lacing.

Smell- A slight hint of mouth watering floral citrus scent derived from the hops. Not much else here.

Taste- The first thing that hits me is the rye followed by a medium biting hop flavor. I expected more hop bite, but this pale ale has a rather malty flavor start to finish. Unexpected but intriguing spicy rye flavor.

Mouthfeel- Light to medium body with some creaminess, but still crisp.

Overall- I like the rye kick at the beginning, but it is tough for me to compare this to other top pale ales. The finish lacks character and a notable hop character that I was expecting. Nonetheless, a very drinkable ale, but not one that I would look for one the shelf.

Serving type: bottle

06-13-2012 01:29:43 | More by ajanesz

ColdPoncho

Ohio

2.85/5  rDev -17.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

A - Amber body with a veritable metric shitton of floaties. Decent white head.

S - some sweet malts...anything else? No, not really.

T - Sweet and vegetal malts. Hint of roasted malt. Some hops, but I can't tell how. jeez.

M - Mediumish body, kinda dry.

O - man, this beer is disappointing. It doesn't live up to its name, and it has a bunch of stuff wrong with it. come on, Rivertown, you're making Cincinnati look bad.

Serving type: bottle

08-31-2011 02:05:29 | More by ColdPoncho

WVbeergeek

Ohio

2.7/5  rDev -21.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Pours a bright pale copper hue with a light white head forming thick with fine bubbles speckled on the sides of my glass. Aroma has a nice cereal malted barley smell with some citrus and earthy hop notes coming through to complement the malts. The rye comes through with a bit of spiciness in the flavor and the English malts brings a twist on your standard APA I still wouldn't call this an English pale ale but as it warms a hint of diacetyl comes about. Not sure if it is intended or not but it has a weird wet cardboard butterscotch tone going on. Mouthfeel is medium to lighter bodied with moderate carbonation, the diacetyl sticks around with each sip really detracting from the overall enjoyment factor for me.

Serving type: bottle

10-01-2011 15:10:50 | More by WVbeergeek

TurdFurgison

Ohio

2.6/5  rDev -24.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

I purchased a single at a Kroger store in Dublin, $1.50. It pours a dark copper color, very clear, with about one finger of nearly white foam. It smells bitter, nothing flavorful in the aroma from the hops, just bitterness and toasted malts. And same in the taste, I'm sorta disappointed with the flavor as it's billed as "Hop Bomber". No hops flavors except a somewhat unpleasant bitterness.

Not recommended, too many good choices out there to ever drink this again.

Serving type: bottle

06-23-2011 22:34:37 | More by TurdFurgison

Stinkypuss

Pennsylvania

2.55/5  rDev -25.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Rivertown Hop Bomber

Pours a clear copper with a very nice foam cap and some lace. Aroma is faint, floral hops and a sugary sweet malt. In the flavor, green apple, caramel, near cloying sweetness and a flash of citrus hops in the background. Mouthfeel is decent, semi dry light to medium bodied feel and almost crisp. Overall, I hope my bottle was an older sample, because there was little to no hop presence for a beer touting the name "hop bomber".

Serving type: bottle

08-19-2011 03:52:09 | More by Stinkypuss

AleWatcher

Illinois

2.48/5  rDev -27.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Hop bomber, eh? Sweet...
Hmmm... So where are the hops? I smell some hop activity... And there is a larger bitterness present... So they used the whole hop bill on bittering and aromatic, eh? Ok. That's gonna hurt the score a hair:

Looks ambery orange in color with an off-white head of 3 fingers. Decent retention, but no lace.
Smells of bitter hops, perhaps a citrus and floral profile.
Taste is pretty bland except for the bitterness, and that is no exaggeration. I wish I were able to pick up more here, but I get virtually no malts and only pungent and abrasive bitterness from the hops.
The body is very carbonated and that leads to it feeling thinner than it is (and should be).

Overall-- meh. This isn't bad, but I love too many other Pale Ales to ever drink this one again. It isn't terrible, by life's too short for mediocre.

Serving type: bottle

08-22-2011 02:04:44 | More by AleWatcher

brucer1

Ohio

2.15/5  rDev -37.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

i wonder if this old? cant really tell if its skunky or not. very carbonated... pour carefully or you'll get nothing but head. smells and tastes more like a belgian, albeit a darker version. not so good...adequate though because it is beer. the computer says i need more characters this should do...don't get this the name and bottle appearence don't jive!!!

Serving type: bottle

09-02-2011 02:59:23 | More by brucer1

yourefragile

District of Columbia

1.75/5  rDev -49.1%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5

Stubby 12 oz bottle. Fun extra from a brewery I've never heard of.

Pours a perfectly clear cola amber with a bubbly, clear light tan head that fades to a ring of bubbles with no lace. Sweet bready and caramel malt aroma; no hop presence. Watery medium body with extremely low carbonation and a cloying finish. Slightly medicinal flavor, overly sweet and bready, slightly more of a hop presence in an earthy finish, but bitterness is still trace. I'll have to sample some other beers from this brewery, but will pass on "Hop" Bomber in the future.

Serving type: bottle

03-27-2012 23:34:08 | More by yourefragile

aasher

Indiana

1.35/5  rDev -60.8%
look: 4 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 3 | overall: 1

This beer pours a nice vibrant copper in color with a one finger cream colored head. It smells of rancid butter mixed with three day old sweaty gym socks. I haven't smelled something like this since the White Birch Wild. It smells like a drainpour. The flavor is bitter and again of rancid butter. It's pretty awful. A couple sips of this and I'm done. It drinks sticky and dry and leaves that godforsaken after taste behind. This one is pretty bad. I assume they didn't intend on it tasting like a combination of buttery syrup and BO.

Serving type: bottle

08-11-2011 21:14:15 | More by aasher