Clusters Last Stand
Portsmouth Brewery

Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Portsmouth Brewery
 
New Hampshire, United States
Style:
American IPA
ABV:
6%
Score:
86
Avg:
3.78 | pDev: 10.32%
Reviews:
9
Ratings:
24
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Oct 04, 2014
Added:
Jan 20, 2012
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  1
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by sethmeister:
Photo of sethmeister
Reviewed by sethmeister from New Hampshire

3.97/5  rDev +5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours from my growler a hazy reddish brown with a thin offwhite head which departs with alacrity.

Nose is citrus and floral with a touch of grapefruit and pine needles

Taste is tropical fruit, over-ripe pineapple, grapefruit and pine resin atop a sweet doughy malt base. A little fruity, a little spicy. Not intensely bitter. Nice dry finish.

Juicy / oily mouthfeel.

A subtle and well balanced IPA with a mild bitterness and a satisifying array of hop flavors.
Aug 12, 2012
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 2.72 by KWolf from New York

Oct 04, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by Pwbres from Maine

Jul 16, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Jmbbabson from Massachusetts

Jul 12, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by ajcormier from New Hampshire

Oct 31, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by WanderingFool from Massachusetts

Sep 02, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by Kelp from New Hampshire

Aug 10, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by bruindre from Massachusetts

Jul 28, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by Abilow33 from New York

Jul 26, 2013
Photo of sinstaineddemon
Reviewed by sinstaineddemon from Connecticut

4.15/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A - This IPA pours a reddish brown ruddy color, it is a hazy beer. It creates a thin tan head with good legs.

S - Wow! Big on the hops, didn't exptect this much of a hop bomb. Great floral and citrine hops pounce.

T - The bombness of the hops continues. Sour/bitter grapefruit elements step forward and proclaim this hop profile inthe name of citrus. But at the end, some floral notes come out. Its a great taste.

M&D&O - hop heads rejoice, and trade for this beer. Portsmouth continues to impress
Mar 19, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by metapod from New Hampshire

Dec 15, 2012
 
Rated: 3.25 by mattparsons from New Hampshire

Sep 21, 2012
Photo of Smakawhat
Reviewed by Smakawhat from Maryland

3.85/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured from the bottle into a nonic pint glass, purchased at the brewpub store.

A VERY exceptionally dark IPA, super dark brown red color, with very little chance of seeing through the body. Head is fluffy white about two to three fingers.

Nose is caramel sticky malt, a little bit of syrup sense. Mix of biscuit and floral/grass notes for hop angle. It's ok but seems more malt forward like an amber ale.

Biscuit/dought malt and large hop flavor, mixing with the sense of sticky malt hinted from the nose. Light caramel, larger hop profile bitter and good lingering dry aftertaste on the hop angle on the palate than hinted from the bouquet. Feels quite full bodied but not bringing the syrup sense which is a good thing, comes out not too wet not too thick which is nice.

Overall pretty interesting IPA. Sort of an amber hoppy ale it seems.
Sep 03, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by Yabev15 from Massachusetts

Aug 10, 2012
Photo of inlimbo77
Reviewed by inlimbo77 from Delaware

3.85/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
22oz bomber bottle poured into a DFH signature glass. No bottle date but this was release in mid January at the brewpub (1/19/12).

A: Pours a hazy amber color. Darker than I was expecting for this IPA. About a half finger of soapy off white head that fades quickly. Good carbonation. Sticking lacing bits and lacing.

S: It's interesting. I thought I was gonna get blasted with hops, but I don't. I get sweet bready malts and some piney hops hidden behind that. With a swirl I get some over ripe peach hop notes. But overall earthy piney hops.

T: Well, the sip is better than the nose. I get assaulted with piney hops not the tip of the tongue. Spicy piney notes. Then as the sip moves to the mid mouth, it really coats the tongue. You get that malt sweetness. It's more hop forward then I initially expected. Crisp dry finish.

M: Medium bodied.

O: This is a very nice IPA after sipping on it a while. Initially I didn't think I as gonna get the hops I wanted but they were there. Solid B+ for me.
Feb 19, 2012
Photo of Bendurgin
Reviewed by Bendurgin from Maine

2.84/5  rDev -24.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Poured into a pint glass. Pours a hazy amber color with a finger of beige head. A little bit of sticky lace.

Floral hops aroma with an off aroma of yeasty sharp cheddar cheese. A little bit of crackery malts but it really seems to have an out of place aromas. A little bit of an herbal/floral hop flavor with some hints of doughy biscuit malts.

Medium body here with some sharp carbonation. Overall this one isn't bad to drink. Seems to have some off aromas, but in the end I can drink it and enjoy it. Tasty enough, but I'd pass in the future.
Feb 12, 2012
Photo of andrewinski1
Reviewed by andrewinski1 from New Hampshire

3.34/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Poured into a pint glass. Thanks to Shane for hooking me up with this one! The color is dark orange/amber; relatively clear. There is a one inch off-white foamy head. Great head retention and lacing.

The aroma is full of flowery herbal hops and some sweet caramel malt. There are some ester-y aromas indicative of an ale.

The taste has some nice graham crackery malt with a nice herbal hop backbone. This is nicely balanced but not quite the hop forward hop bomb American IPA lovers might expect.

This is nicely carbonated, and has a medium body.

This drinks nicely, but shouldn't be an IPA. I like the malt flavor with the herbal hops. It's a nice balance.
Feb 12, 2012
Photo of Aiptasia
Reviewed by Aiptasia from Florida

4.08/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
I'm now enjoying this rare collaboration beer courtesy of Portsmouth Brewing, Smuttynose brewing and Stone brewing, and the Growlin' At The Moon trade hookup from JoePais. Thanks Joe!

It pours a nice copper kettle color with a decent white head that fizzles fast. Not much lacing nor legs on the head, making it drinkable fast. Crystal clear and very attractive looking beer. It smells of caramel malts, orange, lime and honeysuckle on the nose. Taste is a balanced hops forward profile with only slight cluster bittering. Much more aroma and flavor from late hops additions or in the whirl. The balance is nice and even with the malts mellowing out the hops bite up front. Some warming on the back end and in the aftertaste. No off flavors at all. This is a great beer and almost impossible to pick apart.

Would love to drink this one as a Maibock substitute in the spring! And guess what, I can!!! Woot!
Jan 29, 2012
Photo of lordofthewiens
Reviewed by lordofthewiens from New Mexico

3.93/5  rDev +4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
On tap at The Brewery.

In an imperial pint glass the beer was a hazy dark amber color with a good inch of white head. There was a good deal of lace.

Pine and citrus hops, very fresh. A little bit of sweet malt.

Big hop taste of pine and grapefruit. Bready background.

This beer really rolled nicely around my mouth. Very resinous, nicely hopped.

I hope there's still some left when I return from vacation.
Jan 27, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by joepais from Maine

Jan 26, 2012
Clusters Last Stand from Portsmouth Brewery
Beer rating: 86 out of 100 with 24 ratings