Deschutes Inversion IPA

Brewed by Deschutes Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Bend, Oregon USA

Bottle poured into shaker. Hazy copper/amber colour with light sediment. Good carbonation, tan film with cascading lace. Aroma is floral hops but the flavour really hits hard with the 75 IBUs appearing as bitter pink grapefruit. Very pleasant.

Bottle thanks to golubj. Poured an orange copper color. Aroma was somewhat lackluster; malt focused with caramel, bread and only a dash of hop presence. Flavor was dominated by caramel and biscuit malt which gradually gave way to grapefruit hops. Solid, but not spectacular.

Pours a clear copper with thin off white head. The aroma is grapefruit, pineapple, sweet malts and some biscuit. The taste begins with the same fruity notes noticed in the nose with fresh grapefruit and pineapple. It is bitter to be sure. Near midway sweet lightly roasted malts and biscuit malts well up to drive a wedge into the citrus hop bitterness. Toward the finish the grapefruit, tangerine and pineapple like hop bitterness squash the mild maltiness into the finish. The after taste does create a mild lightly roasted malt, biscuit and mild bread like flavors to go along with the hop bitterness.

Very floral, rich, malty IPA with everything that is great about NW IPA’s distilled into one great brew. Not in any way ’hopped over the top’ - a true, full malt body - complex roasty character with strong caramelly, mildly sweet. Hops are great and floral beyond belief, smooth and just a very nice complex- not spicy at all, sometimes the hops can be a little too spicy for me, this one does not overpower in any format - not peppery or spicy, not too acidic or astringent - the high(er) ABV is really well suited to this drink without being overly pungent. A very solid, well put together, and for my tongue probably one of the greatest Mass-Appeal IPA’s on the market. Re-rate 4-24-2008; re-examination of this ale leaves me shocked at my initial impression of this drink. Perhaps they changed the recipe or I was really off on my last go-round, but this drink is seriously lacking a strong malt character. Hop profile is overly aggressive and astringent. Crisp and citrusy, but really not well balanced at all.

Bottle. Aroma starts with moderate malt and hop notes of caramel, bread, herbs and resin, and a light dough smell for the yeast, with cherry and black pepper in the background. Head is medium sized, fizzy/frothy, off-white is mostly lasting and has excellent lacing. Color is sparkling clear red/brown. Flavor starts lightly sweet and acidic then finishes lightly acidic and moderately bitter. Palate is medium, oily/creamy and has a soft to lively carbonation. The nice aroma keeps this beer a cut above the average IPAs out there.

A foamy off-white head tops an orangy copper body. Again, there is the expected potency of Pacific Northwest hops but the caramel malt holds its own to provide a nice balance. The sweetness in the taste does its job without taming the sharp bitterness of the hops. Very nice.

Decent hop aroma but very weak. Pretty good hop character. Quite citrousy. Medium dry, medium long finish. Good bitterness, but not at all overwhelming. Alcohol comes through a tiny bit in the aroma, and a little more in the taste.

Bottle - This is an interesting beer, with complex flavors an a unit bitter finish. I think I am going to have to get another bottle of this one to make a full evaluation.