Bissell Brothers The Substance
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Tasting Notes
The Substance pours with a hazy, soft quality and leads with a full aromatic load of tropical and stone fruit — mango, peach, and a faint citrus rind note underneath. On the palate it's pillowy and round, with hop flavor that stays juicy rather than sharp, and bitterness that registers but never dominates. The body is medium-full for the style, which gives it a satisfying weight without turning heavy. The finish is relatively clean with a gentle, lingering fruitiness rather than a resinous bite.
About the Brewery
Bissell Brothers opened in Portland, Maine in 2013 and quickly became one of the most closely watched breweries in the Northeast for its approach to hop-forward, haze-adjacent ales. The Substance became something of a flagship and a touchstone for the New England IPA conversation before that category even had a firm name. Their lineup stays tightly focused on ales with an emphasis on texture and hop character, and they've expanded capacity while keeping the core beers consistent.
Food Pairings
Spicy Thai noodles work well here because the beer's fruit-forward softness tempers heat without disappearing into it. A good fish taco with mango salsa mirrors the tropical hop character and lets both amplify each other. Aged cheddar or a semi-firm farmhouse cheese provides enough fat and salt to ground the beer's roundness. Grilled shrimp with a citrus marinade tracks naturally with the stone fruit and citrus rind notes in the aroma. If you're going simpler, a charred chicken thigh with herb seasoning holds up to the hop weight without competing.
Style Guide
American IPA is a broad and evolving category built around assertive hop character — typically citrus, pine, tropical fruit, or resin — balanced against a firm but not heavy malt backbone. It originated from British IPA traditions but American craft brewers, starting in earnest in the 1990s, pushed bitterness and hop aroma far beyond the original template using newly developed domestic hop varieties. The New England or hazy substyle, which The Substance helped define, de-emphasizes bitterness in favor of soft texture and intense, almost juice-like hop aroma. That distinguishes it from West Coast IPA, which tends toward clarity, dryness, and more pronounced bitterness.