Inversion IPA
Deschutes Brewery

The lightly hazy copper tinged amber colored beer pours out into a Duvel glass with a 1” light tan head that leaves lots of thick lacing on the sides of the glass as it recedes slowly. Sipping creates lots of small patches and legs of lacing, some of which recede back down to the liquid. Toward the end of the beer there is still lots of lacing on the sides of the glass and some patches of foam on the liquid.

The aromas include grapefruit zest and pine. There also seems to be a bit of pineapple in here. The malt backbone contributes some caramel.

The flavors are much as expected from the nose with the grapefruit zest and pine showing along with some fruity notes of pineapple. The malt background initially provides a good bit of caramel sweetness but then the bitterness from the hops becomes more noticeable and persistent even though softened a bit by the sweetness.

The mouthfeel is medium bodied and slightly prickly with the moderate amount of carbonation. The finish is fairly long in that there is an initial impression of sweetness that gives way to the drying, slightly sharp citric and piney bitterness. The pineapple puts in an occasional appearance here and there but eventually becomes a background accent to the almost unpleasantly sharp bitterness that persists to the dry ending.

This strikes me as being a well-made example of the West Coast interpretation of an IPA with its strong bitterness that takes over after an initial impression of sweetness. While I’m fine with having had this one I don’t think I’ll be seeking out more since my preferences lean to a smoother bitterness that doesn’t have quite so much intensity across the back of the palate in the ending.

RB transfer

clear copper pour, decent off-white head. Nice balanced hop nose. Bitter on the tongue. Sweet caramel malt is over taken by ever balanced hop attack. dry finish.|12/14/2012

 

 

Had this on draft at the brewery.
A: pours amber body with small white head with ok retention and lacing
S: subtle sweet, burnt toffee notes
T: earthy taste with some subtle toffee notes; earthy/bitter aftertaste
M: medium bodied and pretty smooth; pretty good
D: nice feel and taste combo; nice IPA

 

 

 

Nice caramel color and great hop/malt balance. My go-to beer for several years now.

 

 

 

 

Look: Opaque burnt orange leaning red with a nice eggshell head that swells up and slowly settles, leaving good lacing behind
Aroma: Pine needles and sap, grapefruit rind, fir needles, bready malt notes, oranges, light berry notes, and some lemon
Taste: Citrus fruits and conifer notes come on strong and are quickly joined by some rich and slightly sweet bread-driven malt. The bread and hops go back and forth, each time finishing with some light berry notes and finishes as it started, with citrus and conifers
Mouthfeel: Full – a little chewy but not too much, medium-high carbonation, and a nice bite and light to medium dryness on the finish
Overall: I dig it. This used to be my go-to IPA for years in the mid-late 00’s but my palate eventually fatigued from the fact that this beer is legit old-school – big malt presence, C-hops galore, and a chewier mouthfeel. Though I don’t drink it much now, it is still good for what it is and an easy no-nonsense, big hoppy WCIPA

An amber ipa , seems to only be sold in combo packs, not too heavy or too light, good looking beer, if your more into ibu i would go fresh squeezed by deschutes. Great fall and winter time beer.

 

Smooth & sweet, with a honey aftertaste. Mild bitterness on the front end. More balanced and less aggressive than other Deschutes IPAs such as Fresh Squeezed (which I also love). A tasty beer, pleasure to drink.

This is my favorite beer, so far. Smooth. Everything about it is just right. Another Goldilocks beer.
Kind of unexpected just right IPA bitter, the aroma is delightful. Not a boring beer. A very relaxing beer feel, but doesn't make you sleepy.

I just tried the Inversion with the NEW label. The beer with the new label is different. Not fragrant at all. Very generic. I hope someone can make this go back to the more fragrant beer of the old label. I would pour it into a glass and just inhale the hops. It was delightful.

 

355 ml bottle, from Fakta Hirtshals. BB date was 30.05.2014. ABV is 6.8%. Hazy amber colour, large head, slightly off-white. Strong and typical American IPA aroma of caramelized orange marmalade, also notes of pine. Soft mouthfeel. Very hoppy flavour, also decent malts, but not too sweet. Very bitter finish, piney and resinous notes. Good stuff.