Thursday, August 19, 2010

Deschutes Hop in the Dark

Deschutes always impresses me I've had so many of their beers and so much of their food. They are constantly pushing the envelope while keeping their quality consistent. Case in point this beer.

Deschutes is calling it a Cascadian Dark Ale and it is that. Using cascade hops along with traditional porter malts and even some oats to provide body Deschutes has created something of a hybrid. A dark IPA.

Essentially that's what this is. A mishmash of a roasty toasty stout or porter mixed with low grade IPA bitterness. The aroma is roast and a hint of pine while the taste is the opposite.

I appreciated this for what it was. A distinct departure from style and an experimental beer, but I wasn't really that enamored with it. The roast just didn't fit well with the pine and a hint of citrus. I think that's what ruined it for me, that hint of citrus. Most stouts have that back-end bitterness and it works, but this one just doesn't seem to meld well. 

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