Deschutes Inversion IPA

I thought it was a good beer, but I was expecting a little more after enjoying their Porter and their Pale ale. It had a little bit of a hoppy aroma but I was expecting a little more overwhelming punch out of them. I thought it was well balanced and it went down smooth. Good beer, but somewhat average.

Purchased at a convenience store on Haight St, June 2007. Pours a beautiful clear red with a thick manilla head. Soft caramel, earthy floral hop notes - kind of subtle. Very caramel/toasted malt-heavy up front, toffee-bread, then earthy hops and pleny of resinous bitterness; light apple. Medium bodied with soft carbonation. Kind of a Brit-style IPA.

12oz bottle, via kenb. Pours a murky dark copper body with a fair amount of chunkies floating about under a one cm foamy beige head. Spotty lacing remained. The nose is pretty restrained with some light tangerine citrusy hops and some slightly husky crystal malt. The flavor is quite aggressively bitter and hoppy though, possibly seeming more intense due to the noticably low maltiness in the flavor. The crystal malt flavor really emerges on the finish though, which I didn’t really care for. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and quite sturdy with moderate fizzy prickly carbonation. Overall, this was just not my type of IPA. Heavy bitterness with prominent crystal malt is not a winning combination to me.

This is not a bad IPA. Cloudy amber, nice head. Smells really good. Hops like crazy. Upfront and a really long lasting citrus almost metalic aftertaste. Not quite enough as far as malt sweetness, but still enough body to satisfy. I like it, not really something I would buy again. Definitely original taste, but nothing spectacular. Got to try as many as I can tho.

HInt of grapefruit and plenty of happy hop aroma. Poured with small but respectable head into a tulip glass. Pretty-looking in the glass. This Inversion IPA is malt-heavier than most. I didn’t get the crisp release of hops; rather a more malty sweet aftertaste with lingering hop metallic tones on the cheeks. Malt and hop interplay isn’t totally in sync. It’s worth drinking again, but perhaps my expectation and anticipation were too far ahead. Certainly respectable.

Bottle (12oz) shared with HogTownHarry & tupalev -- courtesy of HogTownHarry. Pours a clear orange-amber with an average size off-white head. Nice aroma of resiny hops backed by caramel malt and some citrus fruit thrown in. Flavour’s the same, resiny hops backed by caramel malt, some citrus and a good bitter finish. Medium bodied. A pretty good IPA.

Dark amber with nice thick, creamy head and sticky lacing. Aroma and flavor is citrus and pine and hops. Good medium powered IPA with a good citrus finish. Not bad!

Poured a hazy amber. Nice big head an heavy lacing. Hops are abundant from the nose to the finish. Hops are nicely blended with the malt. My original rating was poor. Either the IPA got better or I am in a whole different place.