Deschutes Hop Trip

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

Vegas - passed up the opportunity to drink this fresh on tap but I’d just drank a bottle the day before and the other taps at the Freakin Frog had to be sampled first (this ended up being the legendary flemish sour / sake / Ardbeg night with 4 beers sitting in front of me).
The aroma absolutely blew me away. The best. Period. Incredible fruit that made me drool and is making me drool thinking about it, nectarines, ripe apricots, maybe raspberries (more so than any other berry). So fragrant it’s unreal. Flowers as well. Oranges when warmer and still lots of leafy hops, sweet mild caramel. Damn, this is fine. The taste is pretty good as well but not in the same league as the aroma. Loads of fruit with nectarines, apricots and raspberries, leafy hops, some bitterness. After awhile it gets a bit empty. Good soft malts to accompany the killer hops (blends in very well), weak weak peppermint???, slight spice. Good carbonation, medium bodied, nice "just-before-finish" spice, leafy bitter finish with fruit (apricots) and caramel. Great colour! The aroma was just too good to even mention what this looked like prior. Deep orange beer with some off white to tan head, ropy lacing throughout. Excellent and so damn enjoyable.

Fairly clear, dark orange with a tall, lasting off-white head. Fragrant citrus hop aroma, not too strong but very nice. Excellent!

Big Cascade hop nose, clear pale amber color, clingy head. Honey malt, fizzy carbo, tasty complex hop blend that fills mouth with a dull. Bitter but well balanced. Light and tasty.

Pours slightly hazed amber with light tan head, although it is a very thick head - dense and laces well as the pint goes down. Nose is very fresh fruit-like with some less common fruits like tangerine, peach, and the usual grapefruit. On the palate this is a tropical fruit ale all the way. Modest hop bitterness, modest malt, but very tropical overall.

22 oz bottle courtesy of jcwattsrugger. Pours a deep gold color with a 1/2" white head and some spotty lace. Aroma is floral hops with some sweet malt in the background. Nice mellow mouthfeel with a moderate body. Just a hint of pucker power. Flavor is same as nose with floral hops being the main flavor with a hint of malty sweetness.

Bottle thanks to ditmier!
Reddish-amber, moderate white head. Nose only slightly bitter, a lot of candyish orange soda. Piney, tea-like orange soda flavor. Palate is surprisingly creamy, a little sticky, moderate body but not much carbonation. Pleasant beer given that the sweetness is light here, avoiding the usual pitfalls like heavy caramel and such.

Aroma is slightly grainy, a bit of floral hops and sweet malt. Taste follows suit. Finish is slighly sweet and only a touch of bitterness. Eh.

Bright floral, citrus and hoppy aroma, with a bit of malt. Amber gold with an off white head. Good balance of bitterness and sweetness. Medium body and good carbonation, nice restrained bitter finish. The citrus and floral hops are an aromatic boquet for the nose. Smooth and plleasant. Extremely drinkable with it’s fresh hop flavor. Normally I’m not a hops man, but I’m more than happy to make an exception for this bewitching brew.