This was probably the brewery I was most looking forward to visiting in Portland, so I naturally went there first. I ended up with two flights for a total of twelve beers while there. For some reason the majority of breweries in Portland want to only sell flights in certain pre-defined groups. This sometimes meant I had to try a few more beers than I was expecting. This was certainly the case with Deschutes.
For my first set of tasters I got the Two Step IRA, Fresh Squeezed IPA, Hop in the Dark Black IPA, Session Obsession Session IPA, Smooth Hoperator Experimental Hop Pale, and Inversion White IPA. The Imperial Red Ale was pretty much a nice strong red with a light hop flavor. The Fresh Squeezed IPA was one I expected to love and possibly even order a pint of. It had a nice bright citrus hop bite and wasn’t overly bitter but it didn’t seem to have the same intense flavor that I am used to in San Diego.
The Hop in the Dark Black IPA was not particularly hoppy or bitter and mostly had flavors of smoky roasted malts. It didn’t impress me on either the dark flavors or the hop flavors. I don’t expect it would seriously satisfy hop heads or those into stouts. The Session IPA was a solid presentation of the now-popular style. It had some solid hop flavors without the bitterness of other sessions. Still, the hop profile wasn’t grabbing me.
The Experimental Pale Ale was quite nice for a lighter color pale. The hop flavors were largely towards the pine. It was a beer I would have enjoyed to buy in a six-pack. The Inversion White IPA was surprisingly malty tasting for the style and not particularly hoppy. Overall, it seemed to be a nice balanced brew but didn’t have the hop flavors that I have come to expect.
At the end of Round 1 of Deschutes, I was starting to wonder if I was going to find anything that blew me away. In Round 2 I explore the second set of six beers I tasted while visiting Deschutes.
Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.
As a fun counter to the wide release of their Session IPA, Lagunitas also released a black IPA in 22oz bottles. By the time I enjoyed my bottle it was not significantly brimming with hop flavors but still very enjoyable. This beer pours dark as any stout and should satisfy stout drinkers who don’t mind a little hop flavor in their beer. It isn’t as thick as a typical stout on the higher alcohol but it is still nice and smooth drinking.
Lagunitas Nighttime Ale
The first thing I tasted with this beer was a smoky flavor that reminded me of barbeque or other smoked meats. The beer also has plenty of sweet caramel and chocolate flavors. Behind this I tasted some light citrus hops and a bit of strong bitterness (claimed 85IBU). My husband remarked that this one was too hoppy for him though I think he considered it too bitter. I was overall impressed with this beer and you should check it out if you happen to see it in stores. This special release was put out in April so it should be great well into July. Because the flavors are already much more in favor of the big malts it might be enjoyable much longer than that.
Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.
It was just last week that Green Flash released their Black IPA, a wickedly bitter brew. This week they released the Ristretto Black Lager, the perfect balance to the Black IPA. I saw no mention of celebrating Black History Month on Green Flash’s Facebook page but that might have also been a consideration for the timing of these releases. I was expecting a bitter brew from the Black Lager but instead I was greeted with a deliciously smooth brew that is less bitter than the Double Stout.
The Black Lager has a strong coffee flavor that is complemented nicely by some chocolate and roasted malts. This is certainly on the sweet side so it won’t be for everyone but it is a great option for those who find most Green Flash beers to be too bitter. It is certainly on the low end of the IBUs, maybe around 30 or 40. With it I got to try the cask they had available, the West Coast IPA with Simcoe added. This was a refreshing beer because the cask and added hops really put the hops on the front of the flavors. I only had an 8oz of this one though because I had to experience more of the Black Lager. Overall, I was quite impressed by this one and will likely be back to have a few more of these before they run through it all.
Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.
When Green Flash came out with the Black IPA a while ago I wasn’t familiar with the style and it seemed a bit strange. I probably had a small amount of it at first but forgot it was there. Now in 2014, Green Flash decided to start the year off with 22oz bottles of the beers from the Hop Odyssey series. Black IPA is the first such beer and it is a bitter brew.
It pours black as stout but lacks any of the sweet coffee or chocolate flavors that might bring some people to like stouts. My first thought upon tasting this beer was “Wow that is bitter!” Other people I talked to at the brewery didn’t find it particularly bitter so perhaps the roasted malt flavors that I tasted came off to me as bitter. I would expect that this beer is probably a minimum of 80IBU and perhaps even up there into 90IBU. I couldn’t immediately tell what hops I tasted but my best guess is that they used the New Zealand hops that Green Flash uses for the Green Bullet. Before I left I picked up a 22oz bottle so I’ll see if I like it more in the bottle. This isn’t a bad beer but it didn’t immediately grab me. I think it could have benefited from some chocolate flavors.
Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.
Temecula is a bit far for me to go to hit up breweries right now. I may eventually make it up to hit up the breweries there but until then I rely on breweries with big enough distribution to get beer down to San Diego. I couldn’t resist when I saw Descend Black IPA at Bottlecraft in Downtown San Diego. It was everything I hoped for and I will certainly keep an eye out for more from this brewery in the future.
Descend Black IPA
I could smell the hops on the nose quite nicely though they don’t really show up in the flavor. To me Black IPAs have always been a strange beast. What separates it from a hoppy porter? Hard to say. This one certainly has a lot more in common with a bitter porter than anything else. On the front I could taste a strong bitter chocolate flavor. The bottle claims there is a malty caramel flavor on the back end. I could taste it but just barely. This would have been too bitter for my husband but totally hit the spot for me.
Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.
