“Each year around Labor Day, Deschutes brewers high-tail it over the pass to Doug Weather’s hop fields near Salem for the harvest. After bagging these aromatic jewels, we hustle back and toss them into the brew kettles within four hours of picking. Our reward: a pale ale with a uniquely bright citrus punch and fall spice. It’s something only Deschutes would take past the idle-talk stage. Brewed with Salmon Safe Hops”
We love the story about this beer…270 pounds of crystal hops from the farm to the brew in 4 hours. That’s fresh. Pours a nice ruby like with a white 1cm head that’s sitting well. Aromas of vegetation, pine, sweet malt, mild grapefruit. Mouthfeel is a tad light, with mild to moderate body, mild to moderate carbonation, a good lingering bitterness. The hop profile here is subdued on the palate compared to the aroma. Bit of grapefruit here, bit of sweet malt there. It almost leaves a minty back palate. It is very smooth but it is only 5.9% so there is no booze burn at all. There is frothy, patchy foam down the glass. We are a bit unsure of this one as it lacks guts. It’s a sessional IPA though. There are just so many more better IPA ‘s out there that you probably wouldn’t bother, but for a very smooth, sessional IPA then top marks for this drop.