Deschutes Brewery Down ‘n Dirty IPA American IPA at 6.3% ABV (C$8.25 at Sundance Wine Market, 650 ml, best before 28-Oct-2016, acquired 19-Aug-2016, reviewed 19-Aug-2016)
Appearance: clear pale amber with two fat fingers of fluffy ivory head, good retention and sticky lacing. (5/5) Aroma: pithy grapefruit, resiny pine, earthy, caramel malt. (8/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (7/10) Medium body, moderate carbonation, off-dry medium-duration bitter finish. (4/5)
Well, damn, ain’t that some shit. Dirty big bitter on the tongue, a massive hop assault on the nose, and malts firmly in the back seat where they goddamned well belong, like god and George Hodgson intended. (Yes, I know he didn’t invent IPAs, let me have this.) Everybody else on the internet is wrong: this is the best beer Deschutes makes. Well, except for Fresh Squeezed. And Red Chair. And… OK, fine, they make a lot of good beers, happy? This is one of them. Especially if you’re a dissolute unrepentant hophead like myself. Punches a bit above its weight in the ABV department, though – this thing could easily stand to be an 8% DIPA with a little beefier malt bill. If you like IPAs, you need to try this. If you don’t like IPAs, you… well… need to learn to like IPAs. And then try this. (16/20)
8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
