Deschutes Hop Henge Imperial IPA

Bottle from Steve (THX) and served in my GI IPA tulip: Pours a coppery hue with a lasting almost creamy white head and excellent lacing. The aroma has notes of resiny and floral hops, hint of grapefruit and orange zest, some earthiness and biscuity malts, and a hint of soap water. The taste starts full force hop driven and does not let go. Tones of piney and citric flavors abound supported by some pepper and clove. There is a under layer of malt but it just a cover for the bitters to crush. The beer does lean towards being a bit unbalanced as the astringent metallic aftertaste lingers on a bit too much. A good beer but needs to be shared for this bomber bottle got overwhelming on the second glass.

Bottle shared with shigadeyo. Pours a clear dark copper with a large frothy off-white head that was mostly lasting with good lacing. Heavy complex hoppy citrus and alcohol aroma. Medium body with a slick texture. Heavy hoppy bittersweet flavor with a good bittersweet finish of moderate duration. Very good brew to share with a freind.

Huge aroma of pine and grapefruit, with detectable malt. Beautiful copper amber color with an off-white head that stays and lightly tries to lace. Medium mouthfeel, burst of mixed hop, followed by strong malt. However, the malt comes and goes quickly, as this is all about a hop finish. Creamy with a bite. Relatively mild carbonation. It might get better than this, but not often.

Bomber. Huge aromatic smack of grapefruit, lychee, hop oil, and pine. Very, very hoppy. Clear orange body, orange-tinged soapy beige head. Taste is extremely hop-heavy, oily full mouthfeel and a aftertaste like the main course: dry, bitter, and hoppy. Slightly warming. Avoids the disturbing bitterness of many IIPAs, meaty, structured malt. Floral with light bready notes. Slightly more than liquid hops, and a good one! Thanks, Jake!

Bottle sampled on 2/26/07: Pours a clear dark golden bronze with a thin coating of spotty white head. Aroma of sweet toffee caramel and lots of fresh piny hops. Body starts with good caramel malty viscosity, a touch of fruity sugar complexity and lots of piny grapefruity bittering hops with a slightly-warming finish. Fairly well-balanced, a pretty standard imperial IPA.

on tap at horse brass. aroma of green hops. powedred sugar, mildy citrus. slightly hazy amber, minimal head. light but sleek in the mouth. first taste is creamy then explodes iwht hoppiness, a middle grond where the hops & malt meet, but asharp forward edge fo thinner & bitterer

22 ounce bomber purchased from Nugget on Covell in Davis, CA. Very sweet, sugary, candy-like floral aroma. Quite aromatic and very perfumey and sweet. Smells quite odd, and certainly not like a IIPA. Transparent ruddy copper body with a nice, large, frothy off-white head and attractive lacing. Hmm, some spicy hoppiness to start, which is mildly bitter. This turns nice and malty and chewy in the middle with a fair amount of roasted cereal-like maltiness present. I also get some light caramel maltiness present, too. A little more sweetness in the end, followed by some more floral, spicy, and bitter hops. An interesting hop profile. This beer is well-balanced and not over-the-top. The aroma is still kinda weird, though.

22oz bottle as an extra from Crosling. Pours with a small white head. Aroma is hoppy, cinnamon, light malts. Juicy hop flavor is subdued by a delicate balance of pale malts. This escapes the typical boring amber background of far too many IIPAs. No caramel to be found... woohoo! A very well made beer.