It occurred to me that even though I brought back a case of Sharkbite Red from Pizza Port in Solana Beach, I’ve been neglectful in actually reviewing it—and it’s almost gone. Time to remedy that!

Sharkbite is Port’s signature beer. They say, "A very robust Red ale made with Centennial and Cascade hops which lend a spicy finish to the beer." It’s a decent session beer at 5.5% alcohol by volume.

Appearance: Deep amber—red-orange at the edges. Brownish tint. Nice beige head with clear bubbles (ie, they don’t have a soapy, rainbow sheen to them).

Smell: Hoppy, with caramel notes in the malt. Pretty straightforward.

Taste: Spicy hops roll over the tongue, astringent and woody. Malt tends toward dry as well, there’s a little burnt grain and a little bit of caramel-toffee in there. Fairly clean.

Mouthfeel: A bit thin, but not terribly so, and very dry. The dryness sticks with you.

Overall: Sharp, dry, and drinkable. As with the other San Diego-area beers, hoppier than I would expect at first. But that’s totally in keeping with their style.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores 86 out of 100, with 100% of reviewers (all 29 of them) giving their approval. On RateBeer, it scores 3.47 out of 5, and is in their 82nd percentile.