Spring of the ‘NE’ style IPA: Bissel Brothers Swish

By: Jack Horzempa 

(Originally published on Beer Advocate)

In the past couple of weeks I discussed to two BIG BOYS of Trillium and Tree House (both located in Massachusetts). Today I will be ‘traveling’ to the nearby state of Maine to ‘visit’ Bissel Brothers Brewing which is located in Portland, ME.

I have fond personal memories of Maine since my grandmother used to live in Winthrop, ME (just south of the capital of Augusta) and we would visit every summer for our summer vacation. On the Maine license plates they have the motto of “Vacationland” and it certainly was for me in the past.

Bissel Brothers brewing is a relatively new brewery (just as is Trillium and Tree House) with an opening year of 2013. Over the past few years they relocated to a larger facility so business must be good.

The beer I will be drinking today is Bissell Brothers Swish. This is my first beer from Bissell Brothers Brewing.

Served in my Gulden Draak tulip glass:

Appearance:

Yellow/orange colored with a turbid/murky appearance. A BIG fluffy white head.

Aroma:

The aroma has BIG tropical fruits smells.

Taste:

The flavor pretty much follows the nose with tropical fruit flavors dominating but there is also some citrus flavors as well. It has a rounded bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

The mouthfeel of this beer is soft and luscious.

Overall:

I think this beer is very, very good! Since this beer is named “Swish” and March Madness just recently came to an end permit me to summarize with: Nothin’ but net!!

Jack Horzempa is a longtime friend of the store and an extremely knowledgeable home brewer, brewing some of the best beer I have ever tasted. Jack's palate is well seasoned and he has been a valuable source of beer expertise to the store. He has graciously allowed us to re-post his review/posts from Beer Advocate where he has achieved Poo-bah status. Since joining Beer Advocate 12 yrs ago, Jack has posted more than 20,000 times and earned over 25,000 likes.