Man did we learn a lot about this this weekend in the NFL. Just think about the scrutiny the quarterbacks of each of the four championship teams got before, during, and after each game! My God the pressure must have been immense. Mark Sanchez is too young, Brett Favre is too old, Drew Brees is too sloppy, Peyton Manning is too slow, and on it went. Good or bad the eyes of the world were on these guys who just run around a field and throw a ball. Good grief, they even discussed what they eat before a big game. You’d have though Mark Snachez killed a guy with the scrutiny he received earlier in the season for eating a hot dog on the sideline! Its a lot of scrutiny to stand up to, and each has his detractors as well as their supporters.
Well like it or not they have chosen a career that puts them in the spotlight, and others who put themselves out there in other ways have to live with scrutiny too. This whole blog does nothing but look at what others have done and give an opinion about their work. So alas I am putting another beer in the fishbowl for inspection, at least this time this brew should feel at home in the water…
Hopfish India Pale Ale is one of the “regular” offerings from Flying Fish Brewery in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Jim had sent me an Exit 11 in their “Special Release” series, and it was quite good, so I was anticipating this beer, and hoping it would be as good as the Exit 11. Unfortunately my expectations were not realized…not even a little.
The Hopfish has a promising pour with a good two finger snow white head and pretty good retention. The color of the brew is a very nice golden orange and had a fruity although small nose. Taking my first sip, I was immediately thinking where is all the flavor? Because it certainly wasn’t in the glass. The mouthfeel was watery and had little body, and the flavor was like a hoppy lager. Not much to it, with the hoppy flavor coming through on the back side, but definitely not a hop bomb.
The 6.2% ABV was barely noticeable, as this beer drank like water. It is a little too strong to be a session beer, and way too light to be anything special, so it ends up in this morass of beers that really have little place in the craft beer world. I can’t even recommend this as a daily drinker, because there are so many other well crafted IPAs that fit the bill.
So whether they signed up for it or not, Hopfish from Flying fish Brewery is not worth your time, taste, or money. I’d say Better luck next time to Favre and Sanchez, and to Hopfish!
-Don
Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
I’ve never had anything from Flying Fish brewery so I can’t weigh in your review. But, I really enjoyed the analogy you drew between a football player opening himself to scrutiny via career choice, and a brewer. I actually watched a football game for the first time in 3 years because my buddy was over and couldn’t miss it. Is was more entertaining than I thought.
Nate you have to stay in more! Football is made for Beer and Whiskey! What goes better with raging testosterone and sitting on the couch for 3 hours but a few high ABV brews and a couple shots of Whiskey! Perhaps a cigar! The brew wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. There certainly are much better offerings out there!
Flying Fish is one of those breweries that makes decent beers, not great ones. The “Exit” series has been exceptional but I find their every day offerings are average at best. I like to support the local breweries here in New Jersey so I will buy some of their beers throughout the year but I won’t go out of my way to pick them up.
The Exit 11 that Jim sent to me was very good. It was a wheat beer, and I’m not a huge wheat beer fan, but it was pretty tasty. I was hoping the Hopfish would be more along those lines, but it was very ordinary and one I won’t be buying in the future.
Flying Fish is a lot like Flying Dog in my opinion. Many average beers and few really good ones. Nothing bad, but the special brews are few and far between.
Why can’t they all be like Victory? Those guys make every beer a little (or very) special. I think that what separates the average brewers from the extraordinary ones – every beer is crafted with purpose and authority – even Victory Lager is a treat, and it’s a lot like Bud (but good).
There are two breweries out west here that I think fall into that category. Deschutes and Rogue both seem to get it. They go big on their beers, and whether it is a “Regular” brew or a special series it is going to be good.