Blue Point Hoptical Illusion

This stuff is brewed on Long Island, and I'm not sure how well distributed it is, but it is absolutely worth a try if you can get it.

As a fan of American style IPA's, it's not hard to find a slew of offerings that have the grapefruit/citrus vibe going on, such as Smuttynose IPA or Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. And I'm not complaining, but...

Hoptical Illusion is very unique. Rather than citrus fruit, the aroma smacks of passion fruit or peaches. Delicious.

I've had plenty of it out of the bottle, and I had opportunity to try some served out of a cask @ 50 degrees at DBA in NYC. Amazing. (They also had Victory Hop-Devil in a cask that same evening, and I had a pint of each. Yum.)

On Blue Point's website, they claim that Hoptical Illusion features a rare (unnamed) hop that's grown on a single farm in Oregon, the whole crop of which they purchased once they took a whiff. Good stuff!

This is one of my favorite beers, and I'd love to find out what the name of the hops are they used, and even brew a clone.

Anyone come close to cloning this?

I've only had this one time but I was not a fan. It came from a very good bottle shop that doesn't keep a whole lot on hand so it shouldn't have been past date but it was more illusion than it was hoptical.

I just had this last night and man was it good. Not over the top hoppy, but was very impressed by the almost sweet, malty aftertaste. Something I wasn't expecting and found totally enjoyable...
anyone have a clone?

One of my favorites,thinking of taking the brewery tour to get some info.

While I like the guys from Blue Point and met a few of them on my last trip out to Strong Island, Hoptical totally underwhelmed me. From the aroma to the aftertaste, it was all kind of muted and boring. I did like their Toasted Lager though.

I'm having one right now and it's pretty tasty. The nose and malty aftertaste remind me very much of either Southern Tier's Hoppe or Unearthly IPA. It's a very nicely balanced IPA IMO.

I tried a 6-pack of this about 2 months ago for the first time. This beer was so different from the usual IPA that at first it was like crap to me, thinking it was just overpriced b/c it can from NY or whatever. But after my second or third one (not the same night), I really began to acquire a taste for this beer and really started appreciating what it was making it unique. I have since bought it multiple times.

I don't know if it's the hop varieties used that make this beer so unique to me, but more so it's the nuttiness flavor of the malt that I really enjoy, coupled with the balanced bitterness and aroma from the hops. Most IPA's aren't don't have too much going on in their malt makeup and most of the flavor is found in the hops, but this one is really complex to me and has a lot of different flavors going on.

The nuttiness I'm talking about, the closest I've had it in another beer would be DPA I think it's called. It's Dever Pale Ale. I remember it also having a nutty/caramel flavor.