Deschutes Brewery is the number 6 craft brewery, by sales volume, in America (as of 20008 and 2009) and they continue to produce excellent products such as Hop Henge Experimental IPA. Hop Henge is part of Deschutes Bond Street Series, which features hop-forward beer that are inspired by the original Deschutes Brewery & Public House on Bond Street in downtown Bend, OR.

This beer almost seems like a hybrid between and American amber ale and an American double IPA. It is very hoppy with a smooth biscuity sweetness to it. Deschutes describes Hops Henge as follows:

First brewed in 2006, Deschutes Brewery’s Hop Henge Experimental IPA reappears this year with more extreme hop flavors than ever before. The new formulation is the epitome of the brewery’s experimental style and commitment to innovation, while gratifying their unquenchable thirst for beautifully balanced hoppy beers. The newest incarnation of Hop Henge uses several new hop processes and techniques to create a truly unique and unexpected beer.

Where I Found It. BevMo in Sacramento, CA.

Review Date. July 11, 2009

Serving Type. 22 0z. bottle

Appearance. Hop Henge has a crystal clear but bold red-amber color and you can see the bubbles rising to the top. It has a tan head that started off with loosely coupled bubbles but after that subsided the head was tighter, creamy, and long lasting. After drinking half the beer, there is still have about 3mm of head.

Smell. The aroma of this beer is slightly bready aroma with much stronger notes of biscuity malt coupled with a roasted quality. The hop bouquet is earthy, spicy, and a little floral with pine and maybe some cedar. Since this is made with Cascade and Centennial hops, I was expecting a little more citrus and more in-your-face hops smell. However, my bottle was about 3 months old.

Taste. Hop Henge has both spicy and smooth bitterness from the hops. Although this beer has 95 IBUs, it does not seem overly bitter. It has a nice noticeable bite but is not overwhelming. The biscuit aroma follows through in the flavor with malty sweetness that you taste up front followed by that wonderful hop flavor. The sweetness of the malt buffers the 95 IBUs of bitterness. This is an 8.75% abv beer and sometimes you can taste the alcohol astringency and sometimes you cannot.

Mouthfeel. The beer is nicely carbonated with small bubbles giving is a more creamy nature. It is a full-medium bodied beer with a hop spiciness. The spiciness is not burning like a chili pepper but the spiciness is more that of black pepper or ginger, with out the flavor of those of course.

Drinkability. It’s summertime and I’ve been craving a lot of IPA beer discovering it to be more refreshing in hot weather than I previously expected. This beer is a little sweeter than some of those other quenching IPAs that I had. That and the high alcohol content makes this not a session beer. It is so delicious however that you do want your entire 22 oz. bottle to yourself.

Rating. My ratings below are on a five point scale with five being the best score.

• Appearance (20%): 4.5
• Smell (20%): 4.0
• Taste (40%): 4.0
• Mouthfeel (10%): 4.0
• Drinkability (10%): 3.5
• Overall: 4.05

Information

• Style: Double IPA
• Brewery: Deschutes Brewery
• Alcohol by volume: 8.75%
• Bitterness: 95 IBU
• Hops: Centennial, Cascade
• Malts: crystal, pale and carastan
• Beer Advocate rating: 4.1 (as of May 6, 2010)

Other Reviews

• The Brew Site – Hop Henge (2010)
• Drink Hacker – Review: Deschutes Brewery Hop Henge Experimental IPA
• The Full Pint – Deschutes Hop Henge Experimental IPA
• It’s Pub Night – Hop Henge and Pliny the Younger
• Beer and Whiskey Brothers – Deschutes Hop Henge: What time is it?
• Hopzine – Hop Henge Experimental IPA
• Beer Advocate – Hop Henge Experimental IPA
• Rate Beer – Deschutes Hop Henge Experimental IPA

Deschutes Brewery of Bend, Oregon has a solid line of year round beers and many times an even better line-up of seasonal ans special release beer. The spring seasonal beer from Deschutes in 2010 is the Red Chair NWPA (Northwest Pale Ale). I thought it would be heard to beat Cinder Cone Red from 2009 but they did it.

This beer has a nice balance between hoppy and malty and I found it to be an excellent beer to accompany a long day of snowboarding. When I saw this beer at Northstar-at-Tahoe during lunch, there was no doubt that I was going to pick some up. Although, this beer worked well in cold weather, I think it would be great anytime of the year.

Deschutes named this beer after the oldest operating lift at Mt. Bachelor and they describe this Northwest Pale Ale as follows:

What makes this copper colored beauty so wildly popular?  As a debut Northwest Pale Ale, it’s an adventure all its own.  It has a plush body with satiny caramel flavors derived from seven varieties of malt.  Yet, despite it all, it remains a hop-forward ale with that distinctive citrusy punch.  Just minus any mouth-puckering bitterness.

Date Reviewed. April 5, 2010

Where I Found It. Draeger’s in San Mateo, CA.

Serving Type. 12 oz bottle to pint glass.

Appearance. Red Chair has a creamy meringue-colored head with average retention and a crystal clear orange-brown color.

Smell. The aroma of this beer is a little toasty, bisquity, syrupy, and malty. The hop nose is very noticeable with a hint of citrus, like orange and grapefruit, Squirt comes to mind. The hops are not earthy and certainly not grassy. It includes a hint of pine, a dash of cedar, and some citrus. The bouquet of fresh green hops predominates.

Taste. The bitterness of Red Chair is very apparent and a bit spicy but it contributes to the crisp drinkable nature of this beer. It is balanced by just enough roasted malt sweetness to smooth out the bitterness without having being too sweet. This is a very enjoyable and delicious beer.

Mouthfeel. Red Chiar is a medium bodied beer with an average amount of carbonation and it goes down smoothly.

Drinkability. I find the balance of this beer makes it highly drinkable and easy to quaff several. It has just enough sweetness to counter the bitterness of the hops. It has a crisp nature to the bitterness that make it quenching and quaffable. I find that there are aspects of this beer than can adapt to nearly any beer craving. I wish it was offered all year round.

Rating. My ratings below are on a five point scale with five being the best score.

• Appearance (20%): 4.5
• Smell (20%): 4.5
• Taste (40%): 4.5
• Mouthfeel (10%): 4.0
• Drinkability (10%): 5.0
• Overall: 4.50

Information

• Style: IPA
• Brewery: Deschutes Brewery [more info]
• Alcohol by volume: 6.4%
• Bitterness: 60 IBU
• Beer Advocate rating: 3.92 (as of May 1, 2010)

Other Reviews

• Brewed for Thought - Beer of the Week: Deschutes Red Chair IPA
• The Full Pint – Deschutes Red Chair Northwest Pale Ale
• Drink Hacker – Review: Deschutes Brewery Red Chair IPA
• Beer Douchebaggery – Deschutes: Red Chair NWPA
• Beer(ein)stein – Red Chair NWPA Review

Every year Deschutes Brewery selects a Northwest artist to create an image evocative of the season’s festive atmosphere.

According to the brewery this beer is brewed with “dark crystal malt” and “bountiful hops.” Although that description is not enough to recreate the recipe for home brewing, it does give you a glimpse of what to expect. During my first session trying this beer, I thought it was interesting and fairly decent. In successive sessions, this beer grew to be one of my favorite winter warmers of this season.

Where I Found It. I picked up a 12oz bottle 6-pack at a Beverages and More in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Serving Type. When I sampled this brew, it it was served from a 12oz bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance. Pouring the beer directly into a glass produced a very healthy 1.5 inch head that had a very nice eggnog and cappuccino hue to it. The beer itself had a slightly translucent and clear brown oak color with a slightly orange hue.

Smell. The aroma was malty and roasty, probably from those dark crystal malts. The hop bouquet was nice and floral with a hint of pine. The combination of the floral notes and pine gave it a very slight hint of Christmas potpourri.

Taste. The flavor was wonderful with a strong roasted flavor and a slight caramel taste. It also had hints of a strong cup of cappuccino. The balance was slightly more bitter than malty but it is not overpowering and if it was any less bitter it might have been too sweet.

Mouthfeel. The beer felt like a medium to full bodied beer with just the right level of carbonation. It went down fairly smooth but it is not the smoothest beer I’ve had but it is also not harsh at all. Aside from the hops, there was no discernible aftertaste and even the hop aftertaste did not linger.

Drinkability. I think this was a very drinkable beer especially for cold weather. It might be a bit heavy for the summer time but this is a characteristic common to winter warmers. It was easy to drink more than one. Jubelale has a high alcohol content producing a nice buzz after one beer but the alcohol does not adversely affect the flavor.

Rating. My ratings below are on a five point scale with five being the best score. The overall rating is an average of each of the ratings.

• Appearance: 4.0
• Smell: 4.0
• Taste: 4.5
• Mouthfeel: 3.5
• Drinkability: 4.0
• Overall: 4.0

What Others Thought

It’s always more enjoyable to share a beer with friends and family. As part of this blog I plan on not only reviewing the beer myself but also gathering feedback from others. Below is what Liz and Doug thought about the beer.

Liz

• Appearance. Amber color with a cola fizz colored head.
• Smell. A hoppy floral smell and a light roasty malt aroma.
• Taste. A coffee taste that is almost espresso-like. Bitter and piney.
• Mouthfeel. Palette cleansing. Medium to full bodied.
• Drinkability. Although does not prefer amber thought this beer is drinkable. 3.0 rating.

Doug

• Appearance. Maple brown color with a stouty head.
• Smell. Bright and floral.
• Taste. Floral. Brownish with a touch of black coffee. Like a stout.
  
• Mouthfeel. Cleans palette.
• Drinkability. Drinkable. 3.0 rating.
  

Caption from the Bottle

The following appears on the side of each bottle:

Every year, fall’s crisp, cool air signals the imminent arrival of winter. Thoughts of snow, friends and family, the holidays, and — Jubelale. Brewed with dark crystal malt creating a luscious holiday note with bountiful hops to excite your taste buds— it’s easy to see why Jubelale is the perfect complement to the season.

Information

• Alcohol content: 6.7% abv
• Bitterness: 60 IBU
• Style: winter warmer
• Brewery: Deschutes Brewery [more info]
• Beer Advocate rating: 4.01 (as of Jan. 2, 2009)

More Reviews

• Beer Advocate — Jubelale
• The Full Pint — Review – Deschutes Jubelale 2007
• The Brew Site — Deschutes Brewery Week: Jubelale 2008
• randys.org — Holiday Beer Report: Deschutes Jubelale 2008
• BetterBeerBlog — Beers in Review: Deschutes Jubelale 2008 and Scaldis Noel