I was in the area on Sunday and, having not been there in a couple of months, my wife and I swung by Deschutes for some lunch (her focus) and some beer (that would be me). I had hoped that I might stumble upon The Dissident getting a secret, oh-boy-aren't-you-lucky release but no such luck. Guess the world still has to wait a week or three before getting hands and lips on that one.
They were, however, pouring Black Butte XXII and I was very curious to see how the beer was fairing. The story is probably known at this point, but Deschutes made the decision to not ship this beer earlier in the year after taking a look at it. Not a small announcement when it's your Anniversary Brew. Made with chocolate that they had never tried before, it never fully blended with the ingredients and the visual look of the beer was less than appealing. This led to many discussions of visual aesthetics and how that relates to taste. The brewery did decide to still pour the stuff at their locations, so consumers were able to try it at the very least.
There are large amounts of chocolate and toffee/sweet in the nose with a faint hoppy note that might be a bit of the orange peel. It's got some thickness to the body but I think that had more to do with the creaminess of the liquid. I don't mean to indicate thinness, but I did not get the sense that this stuff could balance a quarter on it's head. The beer rolls with several touches of chocolate and roasted flavors in the taste before finishing with a . . . well, it's hard to describe. It dried up with a bitter finish that I first took to be the chilies but then realized that couldn't be it since I couldn't find heat anywhere (and my taste buds are fearful of chilies to the point of immediate ID if I'm dealing with them). While it's worth a try, I definitely have fonder impressions of previous versions.
My slight disappointment was cleared up with Hop Trip. Flavorful, hoppy, bright - it's everything you want in a fresh-hop ale and then some. Grapefruit and citrus in the nose, blast of fresh hop flavor (I'm becoming convinced that Crystal hops are the go-to-winner for fresh hop beer) that lingers with a clean finish. Truly a winner and worth your wallet getting cracked open.
Some new offerings from Elysian are in my hands for later this week (Men's Room Red, BiFrost) and Full Sail dropped this year's version of Wreck the Halls. I've also got the bottled version of Pelican's Full House and am very curious to see how it compares to the glass I had on-tap at Bailey's. In other words: it's going to be a good week.
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