As much as I love the Boston area beer scene, and as much fun as I’ve had tasting beers in some other US cities, my favorite beer city by far is Portland (the one in Maine, not the pretender on the West Coast). There are a crazy number of great breweries right in the city of Portland, but it presents a bit of an issue when I visit. I know that I have limited time for brewery stops, usually I am grabbing some beer to go on my way through as I travel between Massachusetts and my family’s home in the mid-coast, so I need to be very strategic on each trip. Unfortunately, this means that there are many breweries in Portland that I haven’t visited yet. One that is near the top of the list is Foulmouthed Brewing, which is actually in South Portland (I’ve been told that this is a very important distinction to locals, a good friend of mine is from Portland and was not happy when someone joked that he was from South Portland). While I haven’t been able to visit the brewery yet, Foulmouthed has recently shipped some of their beer down to Massachusetts, and I grabbed a few selections on a recent stock-up run. One of the beers I grabbed was Communist Synthesizer, an IPA brewed with Mandarina Bavaria and Hallertau Blanc hops. It was an easy purchase because let’s be honest, any beer with can art featuring a shirtless Vladimir Putin playing the keytar is an automatic buy. Foulmouthed Communist Synthesizer is available on a rotating basis on draft and in 16 oz cans.
Foulmouthed Communist Synthesizer pours slightly hazy deep orange with a solid white head. The nose is full of hops, led by a strong aroma of tropical fruit. These hops lead the flavor too, notes of white grape, melon, papaya and herbs along with a mild late bitter bite. The hops are balanced by a substantial malt backbone, touches of bread dough and biscuits. Communist Synthesizer is medium bodied and smooth, but packs a bit of punch at 7% ABV. The finish is crisp with some lingering hops. This is a quality IPA, some NEIPA and American IPA elements and an interesting mix of hops. I look forward to drinking more Foulmouthed beers now that they are available locally and hopefully visiting the brewery post-pandemic. Hoppy Boston score: 4.25/5.
Hoppy Boston 
