Deschutes Hop Trip

Brewed by Deschutes Brewery
Style: American Pale Ale
Bend, Oregon USA

Man, this brew is ten times better out of the bottle than it was on tap. Could have been the lines I guess. Pours a yellow orange color with reddish highlights. Nice, somewhat fluffy, white head that fades gradually and leaves a bit of lace. Great nose to this baby. Smells of earthy hops, esthery, dried grass smell. Tastes hoppy and malty all at the same time! Nice, clean, fresh hop taste up front with a dry malty finish. Palate is thin, nice active carbonation. Great beer out of the bottle. Drink it from a tap that you trust.

Bottled, shared with P-Mo on a random Tuesday night sesh alongside a fat blizzle. Deep orange color with a medium haze, and some average white lacing throughout. Not much head, but a good floral wet hop aroma that makes the mouth water. Some butter and spicy citrus notes as well. Nice bouquet of sappy, resiny hops bitterness at the start of each sip that fades quickly. Crisp and refreshing finish, but no lasting flavor. Seems like a Sierra Nevada if it were wet-hopped. Not too shabby.

In the bomber bottle from Liquor Mart Boulder. Pours amber with a large off white head. A lovely hop aroma that is somewhat wine-like. The bitterness in the flavor is way up front and early, then the taste smooths out to a rich maltiness at the end with very little bitterness at all. receptor desensitization, perhaps? Good beer.

On tap at The Red in Santa Cruz. Poured from the tap into a nonic. Dark gold/amber color, ivory one finger head. Good lacing. Sweet citrus and floral hops fill the nose. A very explosive fresh hop aroma. Taste echoes the smell with sweet orangey hops, wet pine needles, flowery hops, biscuity malt. Not really any bitterness to speak of. Very very tasty. Carbonation is great and the body is between thin and medium. Smooth and pleasant. Extremely drinkable with its low alcohol and sweet, accessible, and enticing fresh hop flavor. Much better than from the bottle, the tapped version of this beer ranks near my absolute favorite APA of all time: Alesmith X.

22 oz bottle, via kenb. Pours a clear orangish copper with a nice one finger creamy off-white head that left some intricate lacing. A nice fresh lively hop nose greets me from a foot away. Nice and floral smelling with lighter touches of tangerine and orange zest. A good bit of toasted and lightly caramel malt as well. A pretty full nose for an APA. The flavor is nicely hoppy and floral with minimal bitterness and a light toasted crackery malt base. Lingering leafy hop finish with some grassy notes. Mouthfeel is light bodied with nice fine fizzy carbonation that kept it feeling lively yet not overcarbonated. A pretty darn aggressive beer for "just" an APA. This shoots right into my top 5 APAs, delicious.

22 ounces. This is a beer that I was lucky enough to stumble upon. It has an orange body, a creamy and frothy off-white head that lasts for quite some time, and average carbonation. The aroma is of flowers and light citrus (orange) with a hint of apple and pear. The flavor is good and hoppy, but not overpowering. I was expecting more hop and bitterness than I received. The flavor is somewhere between an American Pale Ale and an India Pale Ale in terms of hoppiness. The flavor is both sweet and bitter on the initial flavor as well as the finish. As Hop Trip warms, a faint maltiness and smidgen of brown sugar become more apparent. The wife made broiled honey-lime salmon fillets with scallions to accompany this. The taste of the salmon was somewhat understated, which was a good match for the ale. Neither the ale nor the salmon overpowered the other. All in all, a good ale and a good meal.

22oz bottle from BevMo Carmel Mountain. The best pale I’ve ever had hands down. Pours a beautiful burnt orange amber with an off white head and great lacing. Amazing nose on this beer, aromas of lemon, grapefruit, pear, grass, pine and coriander. Medium bodied with a great balance of hops and malt.

Really nice aroma, citrus, pear, definitely my favorite part of the beer. Nice copper color, not quite as clear as I would like, with a long lasting white head of foam. Hop flavor dominates at the beginning, but seems to fade into a nice malt flavor as the beer warms. Moderate body and carbonation. A good drinker, but I dont think it quite lived up to the hype of its label.