Portland, Oregon-based BridgePort Brewing is celebrating 30 years in business, and it’s honoring the event by putting out three beers, all named “Trilogy something” over the course of the year ahead. Fans will vote on their favorite and the winner will be brought back in 2015.

The first of this trio is out now: Trilogy 1, which is dry-hopped with Oregon-grown Crystal hops. Review below.

We’re also doubling up this review with another look-see, of Bridgeport’s Hop Czar. Formerly a standard bottling, it too is becoming a series of subtly different beers with different hop varietals as the focus. The first release, nicknamed “Citra Czar,” uses (you guessed it) Citra hops in the mix.

Thoughts on both brews, now in limited release, follow.

BridgePort Brewing Trilogy 1 Crystal – A Crystal dry-hopped American pale ale. Solid stuff. Really fresh up front, with a minimal nose akin to a pilsner. The body is restrained on the bitterness, with some lemon peel and orange peel notes, plus a little nuttiness on the finish. A simple beer, unmuddied with distracting notes, but refreshing and well made. 5.2% abv. B+

BridgePort Brewing Hop Czar Citra – A Citra dry-hopped American pale ale. Lots of fruity citrus notes here, both on the fairly intense nose and the body. The strong fruit character is this close to being out of balance with the intense bitterness of the hops, and it’s the hops that win out in the end, leaving Hop Czar with a strong bitter finish. An unusual and satisfying IPA, but I think the Citra hops alone here aren’t enough to give the beer direction, balance, and a satisfying finish. 6.5% abv. B+

each $8 per six-pack

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