Style: Juicy IPA
ABV: 8%
Joe’s Take
(cough, cough)… I would like to extend to you an invitation to the Jorts Party. Oh wait, that’s not right. What I’m trying to say is that I would like to invite you to try “Jorts Party” by Wilmington Brewing Company in, you guessed it, Wilmington, NC. This tasty little IPA is the highlight of this week’s “NC beer of the week” and Nick and I picked these cans up at our local self-serve taproom and bottle shop, Mpourium.
Poured into an IPA glass (recently Nick and I have tried expanding our glassware arsenal to improve our tasting sessions) this beer has a nice hazy yellow to light orange color. It was pretty appealing with its thick foamy head that left a nice lace on the glass. After appreciating the aesthetics of the beer, I then smelled the beer using some techniques I picked up from Ray Daniels (founder of the Cicerone program) in this video Nick sent me. It had a fantastic aroma that was sweet with hints of stone fruit, mango, and on covered swirling, pungent hop aromas. The scents from this beer really primed me for that first sip and I had to exercise some patience while giving it a thorough aromatic evaluation. Eventually, I relented to my thirst and took a sip. The beer had a smooth velvety mouthfeel, likely owing to the oats in the mash bill. It was medium bodied, slightly viscous, and had me reaching back for a few more sips before I could really evaluate the taste. Tasting vocabulary is tough to nail down but one of the best ways I can describe this beer is simply delicious. For a more informative description, I tasted a well balanced beer with strong hop flavors and bitterness that was balanced by sweet stone fruit and mango. The balance of hop bitterness and sweet malt was near perfect (leaning ever so slightly to the bitter side) and I thoroughly enjoyed each sip. I think the drinkability of this beer is excellent, only detrimented by its relatively high ABV of 8%. I wouldn’t hesitate to have a couple of these in a session, of course it would require some lower ABV counterparts to keep from regretting that session. As far as a food pairing goes, I think something with bright pops of flavor and a bit of spice would fare well. My immediate thought goes to fish tacos or a variety of Mexican dishes. In my opinion (since you are reading this hopefully that means something to you) Wilmington Brewing Company nailed this juicy IPA and they definitely have me as a “yes” on the RSVP to the “Jorts Party.”
On a side note, thanks for following as Nick and I evolve as tasters and reviewers of beer. We are glad to see that our content is enjoyed and would love to see continued feedback with what we are doing well and what we could improve upon. Thanks for reading!
Appearance: Hazy, orange-yellow, pale, thick stable white head that leaves a nice bit of lace on the glass when it finally dissipates. (4.5/5)
Aroma: Juicy, Juicy Fruit gum, sweet, pungent hops, stone fruit, maybe a little sweet citrus. (5/5)
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium body, slightly viscous, soft velvet, medium carbonation, coating to drying. (4.5/5)
Taste: Good balance between bitter and sweet. Bitterness really shines through. Slight biscuit to oat flavors. Good sweetness, juicy hop characters. Retronasal olfaction with some sweet tangerine, peach, and mango notes. (4.5/5)
Drinkability: could crush these for days, just keep in mind that ABV. (4/5)
Total: 22.5/25
Nick’s Take
One thing I’ve really enjoyed about trying lots of different/new craft beers is the creativity in naming that many breweries have. When Joe bought a pack of “Jorts Party” from MPourium in our hometown of Greenville, NC, I was amused and interested just by the name itself. This juicy IPA comes from Wilmington Brewing Company (Wilmington, NC), a brewery that opened its doors in 2014 and has been growing ever since.
Advertised as a juicy IPA, “Jorts Party” hits the mark with its opaque, yellow-gold color. I was also liking the amount of head produced with my pour, which could be best characterized as foamy. There was a decent lingering period before the foam thinned, but while it was at its peak, I took advantage of catching the aromatics of the beer. Very fragrant hops take charge, mixed with notes of some grains and the presence of some alcoholic tones. I was immediately reminded that this beer was marked at 8% ABV. I took my first sip, which was a little conservative – just enough to coat the mouth. I found the mouthfeel of this IPA to be frothy and a little sharp with a brightness/slight burning sensation that is indicative of the alcohol content. However, do not be alarmed that this is a unpleasant beer to drink; on the contrary, the tingling and body of this beer are appealing. Another sip really accentuated the amount of hops in this beer, which give a very juicy flavor profile. As I am still learning about the distinctions between hops, I only later was able to identify the hops as being mosaic hops, which typically attribute fruity notes to beer. In addition, I found some nice grain flavors from the variety of oats and barley used in the brewing process. I think this was a huge contributor to the overall taste quality of this beer, making it multidimensional. At first, I thought that “Jorts Party” would be best enjoyed as a standalone pint, but after finishing the entirety of the can, I was wishing I had more. It’s a highly drinkable beer despite the ABV and intensity of flavors. I wouldn’t hesitate to drink this juicy IPA again, and will be eager to get my hands on another brew from Wilmington Brewing Company. They say not to judge a book by its cover, but I think it’s safe to say you can judge a beer by its name.
Appearance: Yellow-gold color, opaque, with nice foamy head. (4.5/5)
Aroma: Strong hop-forward smells with some juicy aromatics and a light alcohol finish. (4/5)
Mouthfeel: Frothy and viscous, with a tingling from the higher ABV (4/5)
Taste: Packed with aromatic hop flavor, juicy notes from the citrus and melon families. (4.5/5)
Drinkability: Depending on your palate, this could be a sessionable beer, but you should be aware of the ABV before crushing a few of these. (4/5)
Total: 21/25
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