Bridgeport India Pale Ale Beer Review

Bridgeport India Pale Ale

Review Date 8/31/2005 Last Updated 1/6/2012

Try? Re-buy?

When I first heard that Bridgeport beers, they of Portland Oregon, were headed for Atlanta, I got excited. Hey, I love Bridgeport beers (and the IPA especially). It had been a while since they had passed my lips, though. Would they be as good as I remembered? Sometimes, beers change over time. New owners (that’s true here), new brewers, maybe even a new recipe.

For once, that didn’t happen here. I bought a six-pack of Bridgeport IPA and as I sip, I can tell you that I am not disappointed. This is some great stuff here. Trust me, I’ll get to the tasting notes shortly and let you in on it. But just keep in mind the fact that this is a kindler, gentler IPA with a soft malty character and a wonderfully hoppy, bitter finish.

Bridgeport IPA is real ale. That means it is conditioned in the vessel it is served from, in this case, a bottle. A bit of unfermented beer is added to the batch before bottling along with a little yeast, and thus a slow secondary fermentation and carbonation takes place. If you’ve drink Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, you’ve already enjoyed such a brew.

Bridgeport IPA is a bit on the mild side for an IPA. As such, it’s more of an English style IPA than a super hopped American one. But it may be truer to the origins of the style, at least as experienced by the recipients in India. Bridgeport IPA has a moderate alcohol content of 5.5% by volume. Bitterness is also a bit light at 50 IBUs.

The finished product does not lack in hop flavor, aroma, and bitterness however. But let’s get to the brew then and see that, shall we?

Bridgeport India Pale Ale pours to a light orange color with a thick creamy head and a fruity, lightly citric hop nose. A thick film of Brussels lace forms on the side of my glass as the beer descends (and it does descend quickly, this is really good stuff).

The biggest surprise you’ll probably get here is the mellow character of the beer. All of the classic IPA elements are present: chewy caramel, fruit, hop aroma, bitterness. But they’re not as pronounced as in some domestic hop monsters.

Instead, you get a lot of balance here. And that’s a great thing. I really enjoy the way the chewy malt yields to the citric, piney hops in the finish. The soft carbonation, infused into the brew from the bottle conditioning, really impacts the mouthfeel as well and makes the beer more drinkable. And finally, the lingering bitter finish coats the tongue and sticks around for a while after you sip.

Great stuff, this is. I could just drink it and drink it and drink it. Sounds like the definition of a five star beer to me.

Update January 6, 2012: Just enjoyed a pint of this treat on draft at the Taco Mac in Alpharetta, Georgia. Still the same highly drinkable IPA I remember, not overpowering but with plenty of piney hops and a solid chewy caramel malt component. Just the thing to wash down a plate of spicy Buffalo Wings, and as ever a bargain at $4.75 a pint.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

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