We have featured Flying Fish Brewing Company a few times here on The Sporting Brews. You can check out previous reviews on their other offerings by clicking here. Up for review today is their Hopfish IPA.
Hopfish pours a slightly hazy amber with a thick, foamy, slightly off-white head that rose to just over one finger at its peak. There was some carbonation visible but not a lot. The aroma was subtle but clean and slightly malty. I expected more hops on the nose honestly but malt, some sweet caramel, and biscuit predominated.
The first sip followed the nose. Notes of malt, some slight sweet caramel, and bread/biscuit dominated. There was some slight hop bitterness on the backend. The beer felt light in the mouth, though close to medium-bodied. The finish was slightly dry but very smooth with just a perfect touch of hop bitterness.
As the session progressed there was some nice lacing on the glass, enough to make any bride jealous. The flavor profile held true throughout as well. In fact, I might even say it got better. The malt forward flavor and hop finish definitely had me going back for more sips.
Overall, this is an interesting beer. You read IPA and Hopfish and you almost expect to be overwhelmed by hops. That is not the case. This leans more toward the Brown Ale side with its malt and biscuit/bread flavors forward. The hop finish is subtle but welcomed. At 6.2% ABV this beer with some meat to it but not overwhelming by any means. This is a good solid beer that fans of Brown Ales might love and fans of IPAs might find a little on the weak side. Still worth a try.