Deschutes Chainbreaker White IPA

On to the next beer in our series of Brews We Can't Get In Ohio. This is another offering from Deschutes, which is based out of Bend, Oregon. This is Chainbreaker, their white IPA. A quick look at the Deschutes website tells us that Illinois is the furthest east that Deschutes is distributed. Damn. Please come to Ohio soon. I'm digging what you're doing.

White IPAs tend to be brewed with wheat and the usual assortment of wit beer spices such as orange peel and coriander. And hops, of course. Lots and lots of hops. Bravo, Citra, Centennial, and Cascade in this one, according to the website. This one also happens to be a Belgian style IPA.

This pours a hazy pale yellow color with a small-ish white head. The aroma is pretty understated and rather interesting. Bright lemon scents hit me in the nose quickly, along with some coriander and some earthier notes. In the taste, I get a lot of citrus, namely the sweet orange mentioned on the website, faint coriander. Then it kind of fades away and then the wheat comes in to play, and then, long after the sip is gone, there is a faint sweetness of malt presence. This is well structured and smooth as hell in my mouth from the wheat.

I'm almost to the point of recovery from the Weekend From Hell. Or In Hell. I'm not sure which. See, my dad moved from my hometown, Peoria, to a small, hellish suburb that is, um, very monochromatic about 15 years ago. Honestly, I remember a cross-burning in that town when I was in high school, all because a family of African-Americans moved into town. They moved away quickly after their lawn was covered in a burning cross. Can't blame them. I've never forgotten that, nor will I ever. It's not like I grew up in 1958 Mississippi, and it's still not OK with me.

Anyway, for what little remnants of the weekend that are still clouding me, Deschutes has done a lovely job of removing the stigmata that I still bear from the weekend, and for that, I will forever be grateful.

4.3/5 caps

-Jennie

Unobtainable in Ohio #2

Now, as my reflecting counter part has pointed out, this is a Belgian style IPA. The Belgian style IPA seems like it's been picking up popularity (Flying Dog's Raging Bitch and New Belgium's Belgo come to mind). But this is a more of your typical wit bier with the IPA flair to it. Interesting.

The color of the brew is the color of the label, the white head has nearly disappeared in the midst of Jennie's ramblings about the disdain she has for a certain town in Illinois. The aroma is still citrus heavy, with spice and earthiness, but still heavy on the citrus. I love the aroma. The flavor, however, seems light. This is citrus (orange and lemon) and some coriander. There's not really a malt back to the initial taste, but it comes out slightly toward the back. This is... JESUS FUCKING CHRIST TURN DOWN THE TV!!!!! THERE'S NO FUCKING REASON TO BE LISTENING TO HIGHLIGHTS FROM A RACE WHEN YOU HAVE THE TV CRANKED LOUDER THAN A JET ENGINE!!!! Sorry... Fuck! I digress, however. This is definitely more of a wit bier than an IPA. This is a great summer drinking beer, but 5.6% ABV is too light for me at this exact moment. Normally the ABV would be good, but not right now. Right now I need something heavier... Something like our next review.

Overall a great summertime beer, not as hoppy as I'd like, but great flavor combinations.

4.25/5 caps

-Nathan-