Deschutes Brewery’s Hop Trip

Another Fall beer in Winter? This one was a bit of an accident, thought I was season-agnostic, but hey, I like Fall beers! And I like the label on this one…a bit nostalgic for a more innocent time. um, yeah. Well, it’s a sharp label, and I’ve had good luck with Deschute’s Bond Street line in the past.

I cracked this one open, excited after a nice day working from the kitchen table. I immediately jammed my nose halfway down the bottle to seek out the scent. I wasn’t disappointed, but I wasn’t that enticed either. Hop Trip had a light, nonoffensive malty scent, sitting squarely in the pale ale category.

Pouring myself a glass, there was nearly no head, just a thin rim along the glass. The color is an amber gold, actually this is a very appealing beer to the eye.

Taking a sip, I didn’t notice anything spectacular in the flavor. The mouthfeel, however, is great. A light, consistent carbonation with a medium body, not syrupy at all, it comes and goes without protest.

Sitting back, and drinking a bit more, I find myself getting into the flavor. It carries a pleasant, well-rounded hoppiness, which compliments the malty sweetness nicely. There’s a light aftertaste that actually beckons for me to take another drink. Occasionally, I detect a faint hint of citrus, but it is very evasive. Overall, this tastes like a good quality, but very basic pale ale. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Personally, I look forward to trying this one fresh on tap at the brewery next fall, as that’s the principle behind this one…fresh hops. The brewers made a run to the hop harvest and drove them straight back to the brewery to get the freshest possible flavors. Unfortunately, I fear some of that love has been lost in translation, transit, and time. Otherwise, you won’t do wrong to pickup a deuce-deuce of this Hop Trip, maybe as an alternative to Blue Heron or whatever your favorite pale is. cheers.