Deschutes Red Chair IPA

Brewed by Deschutes Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Bend, Oregon USA

Nice orangey hue with a sudsy head. Mouthfeel is lightish, yet slightly chewy with a healthy carbonation. Toasty malts. Notes of bread crust, nuts, toffee, and a slight hint of sweet caramel. Hops are tame yet balancing. Flowers, grass and bitter orange. Nice high-alcohol session beer.

Bottle: Pours a crimson bronze color with a nice puffy off-white head. The nose is floral with some citrus and light pine, the caramel is there too, so it’s not a solo in the aroma department. The flavor is balanced with a nice resinous hop note and a sweet full-bodied caramel maltiness. The finish is chewy and it has a nice rounded crisp mouthfeel. Nice IPA with all the right qualities without being too overzealous.

I heard a lot about this beer, how great it was. Good, yes. Great, no. Beautiful color. Small Hoppy nose that is there but it doesn’t floor you. To me it’s not an IPA. It’s a hopped up pale. Smooth and flavorful. Easy drinkin’. If they amped this one up just a little more it would be killer. So close to perfect. Watery. Thin body. No punch. A hop teaser.

Draft at the PDX pub. Malty. Reddish amber. Too balanced for an IPA, but good nonetheless.

22 oz bottle. Amber red with a long lasting fluffy off white head. Aroma is citrus and piney resinous hops with a bready malt underscore. Sweet malt base with a mild bitterness. Medium body with active carbonation and a clean smooth finish. Like the description says all of the hops are in the flavor and aroma and not much in the overall bitterness.

22 oz. bottle, from BevMo Solana Beach. Pours clear rich copper-pecan color with a thick off white head that diminishes leisurely leaving spotty lacing. Pleasing aroma, with caramel malts evident, floral and citrus notes and just a hint of honey and soap when swirled. Bitter and hoppy in a restrained way, with toasty malts, orange peel, florals, pine bark and other somewhat spicy herbal notes. Medium to full body, and creamy carbonation. Pleasant overall.

Pour is a clear, sparkling amber color with a moderately full, off-white, fluffy head which is somewhat lasting but leaves minimal, tight lace. Nose is fairly faint for the IBU’s with light tangerine, some floral notes, light pine resins, and some toasty yeast notes. Flavor starts out better with a moderate bitterness, toasted caramel, light bread, some pine, and tangerine, but a metallic note takes over moving into the finish. Palate is moderately light, thin, lightly oily, and soft to lively. Finishes with some nice floral notes and light tangerine but the metallic bitterness is still dominant and offputting. Some nice things going on in this one but the offputting notes outweigh the pleasant ones. More of an APA to me despite the IBU’s, with a lack of hop bitterness dominance, but could be very good with some tweaking.

Fairly dark copper pour with nice big off-white head. Good hoppy grassy citrus nose. Flavor has a nice punch of hops up front that fades quick. Good citurs with hints of light roast, with somewhat of a weaker body.