Inversion IPA

A cornerstone of craft, Deschutes has been slaking thirsts of for over 25 years. Inversion IPA is one of a long line of stellar ales from this venerable producer, packing 80 IBUs from no less than six different hop varieties. Surprisingly, Inversion’s aroma favors malt over hops, and throws around notes of caramel, toffee, and bread dough with abandon. Hops do make their presence known, but are subdued with hints of pine needles and grapefruit peeking through the malt. Tim felt the hop aromas lacked definition, but he did tease out some “whiffs of orange sherbet and lemon verbena” from under the sugary malt sweetness. Pouring a light copper and tinged with a faint chill haze, Inversion dons a moderately well-sustained, off-white head. This beer’s flavor, driven by boatloads of caramel and honey sweetness, belies its substantial bitterness – yet some citrus hop notes do emerge as the beer warms. Tom found a “nice balance between malt and hop flavors” with the malt coming across as “toffee-ish, almost like a Bit o’ Honey.” He noted the bitterness seemed a bit low for an IPA. Pete worked around prominent maltiness and picked out “sorbet-like berry fruit, resiny hops, and nutty, honey-like malt.” Unlike Tom, Pete deemed the bitterness “substantial” and felt it balanced the malt sweetness. Though assertively bittered, Inversion’s malt sweetness keeps everything in balance, rendering it a seriously quaffable IPA.