The Stoic Belgian-Styled Quad

Deschutes Brewery
Bend, OR

APPEARANCE: 2.5/3: Pretty orange-gold. White, thin head, rings the glass. Hazy.

AROMA: 3.25/4: Spicy, tropical, citrus. Passion fruit, orange blossom, sweet raisin, richly aromatic. Alcohol.

TASTE: 7.25/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 3.25/4: Big, sour, tropical. White raisin, pineapple, orange, passion fruit, chamomile notes.
Aftertaste: 2/3: Whiskey aftertaste, bitter back of the throat. Whiskey sour is there, but the rest is lost.
Mouth-Feel: 2/3: Chewy, big-bodied. Alcohol tingle.

OVERALL: 2/3: The big body overwhelms the whiskey, relegates it to an aftertaste. If we knew what pomegranate tasted like, we'd have to say it's in there. Good, but BIG.

TOTAL: 14.5/20–I'll Try A Pint

NOTES:
Matt: Complex, like any good Belgian. I feel like there are almost too many factors at play to evaluate it fairly, but I do like the sour. Worth a shot.
Ben: Maybe they tried to do too much with this. Would be better left with the Belgian yeast profile alone; the whiskey gets lost in the tropical flavors. Big and boozy, almost too much.

Deschutes Black Butte Porter

Deschutes Brewery
Bend, OR

APPEARANCE: 2.5/3
Deep, dark brown. Off-white, tan rocky head. Nice lacing, nice-looking beer.

AROMA: 3/4
Coffee, roast aromas. Dark chocolate, subtle sweetness. Vanilla, maybe? Simple, basic. Roast.

TASTE: 6.75/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 3/4: Coffee, chocolatey. No hop flavor, appropriately. Roast is dominant, some hop bitterness.
Aftertaste: 2/3: Lots of bitter roast, roast bitter + hop bitter = maybe a bit much bitter.
Mouth-Feel: 1.75/3: A big light-bodied, could use more hop. Appropriately carbonated, but thin.

OVERALL: 2/3: A very light beer, a nice session porter, just a tad watery. Roast flavors are nice, an okay beer.

TOTAL: 14.25/20–I'll Try A Pint

NOTES:
Matt: Try this, if only because it (and their Mirror Pond Pale) are the cheapest bombers in town. Not perfect, but good in many ways and worth a try.
Ben: Typical porter, a little too watery, but at $2.99 a bomber, you can't afford NOT to try it. Adding smoked malt might make this more interesting.

Deschutes Inversion IPA

Deschutes Brewery
Bend, OR

APPEARANCE: 2/3
Nice brown with a hint of red—pretty. Thin head fades quickly but rings the glass and laces. Slight haze.

AROMA: 3.25/4
Grapefruit. Some pine, brown sugar and caramel. Syrupy-sweet—raisins, prunes.

TASTE: 7.25/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 3/4: Raisins, prunes, some woody pine. Lots of hop flavor. Big malt, toasted caramel. Sugary, woody aftertaste, some roast.
Aftertaste: 2.25/3: Hop bitter finish lingers, with raisin taste. Coats the tongue.
Mouth-Feel: 2/3: Tastes big, boozy, a bit chewy. Sinus-clearing. Bitterness at top of the mouth.

OVERALL: 2/3: Interesting, definitely hoppy. It's big, maybe too big? More like an imperial. Lots of raisin and prune. Do we love this? Undecided.

TOTAL: 14.5/20–I'll Try A Pint

NOTES:
Matt: Beer meets Vicks Vap-O-Rub—this really clears the sinuses. Not your typical IPA, which I can appreciate. Like a hoppy strong ale, worth a try.
Ben: Big, hoppy, lots of citrus. A tad too bitter. Sugary, malty, chewy. Good, not great, but I think I like it.

Deschutes Hop In The Dark Cascadian Dark Ale

Deschutes Brewery
Bend, OR

APPEARANCE: 2.75/3
Black opaque, like black coffee. Perfect head: rocky, fine bubbles, espresso-colored. Beautiful lacing.

AROMA: 3.25/4
Green-grassy with a hint of roast—like an espresso. Meadowy, with a hint of chocolate.

TASTE: 7.25/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 3/4: Sweet, grassy and biscuit, with a touch of coffee. Sweet cream up-front, fades to hop bitter. Nicely balanced.
Aftertaste: 2.25/3: Roast coffee aftertaste, some coffee. Subtle hop bitterness.
Mouth-Feel: 2/3: Light-bodied, smooth.

OVERALL: 2.25/3: It's good, a good example of the style. Would have liked to seen it a bit bigger. But good.

TOTAL: 15.5/20–Pour Me Another

NOTES:
Matt: Nicely done, and I'm a sucker for Cascade hops. I was expecting a bigger beer–in a 4-pack, I might have accepted it better. A sweet take on the style, and tasty.
Ben: Lighter-bodied than I expected. Roasty and hoppy, a good example of a black IPA. Tasty, lip-smacking, I'd buy it again.

Deschutes Hop Henge Experimental IPA

Deschutes Brewery
Bend, OR

APPEARANCE: 2.25/3
Cloudy orange-brown. Foamy, rocky head that lasts, laces nicely.

AROMA: 3/4
Sweet, malty but not a ton of hop nose. Bready, some pineapple. Touch of citrus, woody aroma.

TASTE: 8/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 3.5/4: Very nicely balanced. Sweet up front–bready, orange peel, brown sugar. Piney hop.
Aftertaste: 2.25/3: Nice hop bitterness at finish, subtle sour that lingers.
Mouth-Feel: 2.25/3: Bouncy, full but not cloying. Nicely carbonated. Maybe a bit chewy.

OVERALL: 2.5/3: A big beer, but not boozy. At 9% ABV, it's dangerously drinkable. More like a really good Imperial Pale Ale than an IPA.

TOTAL: 15.75/20–Pour Me Another

NOTES:
Matt: I'm a hophead, and this doesn't beat you over the head with hops—but I'm not complaining one bit. A big, smooth, tasty beer, well worth a try.
Ben: I would have liked more hop aroma; that said, I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

Boulevard Collaboration 2 (White IPA)

Boulevard Brewing Company (and Deschutes)
Kansas City, Missouri

APPEARANCE: 2.5/3
Hazy, light gold color. Thick, white, foamy head. Effervescent. Some suspended yeast.

AROMA: 2.75/4
Lemongrass–like lemon Jolly Ranchers—orange peel, coriander. Earthy, some sourness.

TASTE: 7.5/10

• Hop/Malt Balance: 3/4: Hop bitterness dominant. Grapefruit, citrus tartness (akin to Squirt). Flavor hop gets lost in yeast and accompanying flavors.
  
• Aftertaste: 2/3: Bitter hop, for sure. Complex yeast flavors (coriander, spice) last, too.
  
• Mouth-Feel: 2.5/3: Puckering, citrusy, fizzy but full, almost chewy.
  

OVERALL: 2/3: Definitely a wit, and a bitter one at that. Any hop flavors are overwhelmed by yeast complexity. Tasty, but to call it an IPA is a stretch.

TOTAL: 14.75/20–I'll Try A Pint

NOTES:
Matt: A good, big, complex wit, but that's about it. I'd probably buy Zon or a sixer of White Rascal before I'd buy this again.
Ben: It's a wit first. The hop flavor just gets lost; the hop flavor gets lost. The Belgian yeast is good, but I'm not seeing the IPA, and it's a high price point.

Widmer Pitch Black IPA (Rotator Series)

Widmer Brothers Brewing
Portland, OR

APPEARANCE: 2.25/3
Dark brown to black. Thin head. Looks like a Black IPA should.

AROMA: 3/4
Brown sugar, molasses, coffee. Some grapefruit-citrus hop. Malty, surprisingly complex.

TASTE: 7.25/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 3/4: Roasty, nutty/toasted nut flavor. Lots of malt up front, woody in the middle. Needs more flavor hop.
Aftertaste: 2/3: Fades to nice roasty hop bitterness, drops out after that.
Mouth-Feel: 2/3: Starts malty but drops out quickly, leaves you wanting. A little light-bodied for the style.

OVERALL: 2/3: Hop it up, and you've got a decent black IPA. This seems like a good first step.

TOTAL: 14.25/20–I'll Try A Pint

NOTES:
Matt: Not bad (though ours is better, of course). I feel like Widmer beers have a lot of potential, but this is probably the end result, not a starting point, so that's disappointing.
Ben: A little weak on hop flavor. Hop it up, and this could be a really good Black IPA. Otherwise, pretty standard (if thin) for this newly popular style.

Widmer X-114 IPA (Rotator Series)

Widmer Brothers Brewing
Portland, OR

APPEARANCE: 2/3
Thin, white head. Deep gold, crystal-clear, steady stream of bubbles.

AROMA: 3.25/4
Grassy, meadowy, lots of hop aroma! Some pine, sweet breadiness.

TASTE: 7.25/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 3/4: Lots of hop flavor. Woody, grassy. Not very malty, could use more body.
Aftertaste: 2.25/3: Sweet up front, bitter hop finish, lasting bitter aftertaste.
Mouth-Feel: 2/3: Very light-bodied, alcohol is masked nicely.

OVERALL: 2.25/3: Needs more body, more malt to offset hop bitterness. Sweetness drops out early. A good session IPA.

TOTAL: 14.75/20–I'll Try A Pint

NOTES:
Matt: Better on tap, but good–easy to drink, sweet, not too heavy. More body and this is a very good IPA.
Ben: A good beer. Could use more body, a bit thin for my taste, but easy to drink (it would be easy to drink a bunch of these, and at 6.75% ABV, that could be problematic).

Rogue Dead Guy Ale

Rogue Ales
Newport, Oregon

APPEARANCE: 2.5/3
Light copper color. Decent head–persistent. Slightly hazy.

AROMA: 3/4
Grapefruit nose, subtle hop aroma.

TASTE: 6/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 2/4: Sufficiently malty, but I'm not a fan of the Perle hop used here.
Aftertaste: 1.75/3: Lingering bitterness. Syrupy, fades to bitter. An almost synthetic aftertaste.
Mouth-Feel: 2.25/3: Decently malty, bright.

OVERALL: 2/3: A drinkable pale, but the strong chemical taste is a turn-off.

TOTAL: 13.5/20–I'll Try A Pint

NOTES:
Matt: I know it's popular, but it doesn't do it for me. Give me a Sierra Nevada over a Dead Guy any day. I will give kudos for the variety of beers they brew and the work they put into their web site, which is awesome. These guys clearly have a passion for beer.
Ben: Hop choice is reminiscent of most of Lagunitas's beers–it dominates all else. Just okay.