211. Deschutes Chainbreaker White IPA

"You pair wheat, hops and belgian yeast and suddenly Bingo, a wheat like nobody else's.  With real depth, coriander and sweet orange peel, it's citrus-packed and silky smooth going down."

This is the last beer that I got to enjoy before a rather nasty cold put me down for the count for almost the entire week.  I'm still going through the effects now, haven't had anything more solid than mashed potatoes and mac & cheese in three days.  Still feel like crap but hopefully I'm turning the corner.  Hate when it happens over weekends.  Anyway, less about me, more about the beer.

This is my first beer from Deschutes, (http://www.deschutesbrewery.com) which seems to be one of those Oregon breweries that gets some solid attention across the states.  I had this with dinner, if I can remember right, it was with some baked chicken breasts, brussel sprouts, and California vegetable mix.  The cloudy, golden yellow colored beer was poured into a pilsner glass, kicking up almost three fingers of soapy white head that doesn't have much retention.  Webs of lacing still remain on the side of the glass.  I detect aromas of dough, wheat, lemon, grass, coriander and black pepper.  All the smells are subtle aside from the dough and the wheat, it doesn't give me the impression that this is an IPA.

The taste also doesn't give an impression of an IPA.  All the tastes are there, the dough, wheat, lemon, grass, spice.  Added is a slightly sweeter citrus note, like orange peel.  I also can taste bubblegum.  The finish is dry, but only slightly bitter.  For an IPA, this is very nuanced and controlled.  I would think this is a pale ale based on the finish.  With a moderate body with moderate carbonation, this beer is very easy to drink, has a lot of sessionable qualities to it.  Maybe that is appropriate for the style, being classified as a Belgian IPA instead of an American IPA.  

This was easy to drink, easy to enjoy.  Very solid beer, which I would heartily recommend.  If anyone can provide some other very good White IPA alternatives, I'm all ears.

Grade: B+

Price Paid: $2.50

159. Rogue Beard Beer

Did you think I was going to only have one beer while visiting the dispensary?  Of course not.  I went over to the little bar area and struck up some chit chat with some other folks nearby.  One of my neighbors had a son in Oregon who sent him Beard Beer.  I can see how some people would make faces based on the description.  He offered a sample for me, I'm the daring type so I agreed to try it, and proceeded to get a nice 4-6 oz pour of the goods.  

The beer was poured into the same cup I used to drink the Black IPA, albeit I did my best to rinse and get the lingering stuff out.  The beer was a light amber color, with about a finger of off-white head.  I let it settle and took some whiffs to see what I could come up with.  I could pick up banana, malts, citrus.  My first impression screamed hefeweizen.  

I'd finally "man up" and take a drink of the thing and found the tastes to be consistent with the aromas.  That said, there was definitely some "funk" in the beer.  Smelled like a hefeweizen, tasted like a saison.  Maybe the funk came from the beard, but it didn't gross me out or anything.  I ended up drinking the whole thing.  The brew was medium bodied, with average carbonation.  For what it was, it's definitely more of a gimmick thing than anything.  The beer was decent, but didn't wow me, but I can say to others that I drank the thing.  I guess it is worth trying once, just don't expect to be wowed by the beer.

Grade: C

Price Paid: Free! (4-6 oz sample pour)

101. Widmer Brothers Drifter Pale Ale

Moving on in my journey to #200 (that's my next milestone), I decided to try this beer to go with my dinner.  I thought a pale ale would be a great complement to some pan-grilled cod.  I was right.  I have several beers from Widmer Brothers (http://www.widmerbrothers.com), but this may be the first one that I've actually gotten around to drinking so far.

The beer poured a nice hazy orange color.  I was able to get a finger of head.  Light retention, very light lacing.  Fresh aromas of grapefruit, grass, and bread, with the grapefruit having a surprising about of presence.  Gives the impression that this beer could be very hop forward.

Once you taste it, however, you realize that it's not all that hop forward.  Remarkably balanced is more like it.  The hops are there, but they're mild and don't overpower the malts.  Leaves just enough on the tongue to make you want to keep drinking more.  Light to medium carbonated, the beer is medium bodied but slick and is incredibly easy to drink.  Makes for a great session beer.  I could see myself on the beach this weekend, helping myself to a six pack of this stuff.  It's a very good beer and I can easily recommend it.  Agree with me?  Disagree?  Let me know, I'll be glad to tell you that you're wrong if you don't take my side. *Wink*

Grade: B+

Price Paid: $1.49 (12 oz bottle)

95. Rogue Santa's Private Reserve Ale

When you hold beers like me, you can experience a little bit of Christmas all days of the year.  In this case, I decided to enjoy a beer before heading to a Carolina Hurricanes game and opted to go with the holiday ale by Rogue.  

The beer poured an amber color into a snifter glass.  A finger and a half of off white head that had a stickiness to it.  Sheets of lacing all over the perimeter of the glass, making for one attractive looking beer.  I picked up aromas of malt, caramel, dark fruit, maybe a little bit of spice.  Also had a touch of citrus.  I tend to like amber ales, but I don't remember any amber ales with this type of profile..I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into!

Malty sweetness comes first, following by a hop bite that tends to linger a little too long for my tastes.  The malt, caramel is evident.  The dark fruit I smelled didn't pick up in the taste.  The citrus that was hard to detect was much more evident..not a sweet citrus either, definitely grapefruit.  I think I could pick off some piney hops as well.  The beer was medium bodied, with moderate carbonation.  Overall, I feel like I've had better amber ales that are a better representation of the type.  I've also had better Christmas ales, since this lacked the spice.  To me, this is a pretty unremarkable beer.  Agree or disagree?  I'd love to hear your opinion.

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $2.29 (12 oz bottle)

41. Chatoe Rogue First Growth Pumpkin Patch Ale

Mm..pumpkin beer.  It's still quite tasty even when it's not November.  Decided to crack this baby open since I had planned to drink since Thanksgiving and never got around to it.  Nevertheless, I knew I had the whole 750 mL bottle to myself and that it would be my responsibility to make sure that none of it went to waste.  This particular beer comes courtesty of Rogue (http://www.rogue.com), a very popular brewery out of Oregon.  I can say with certainty that this is the first that I've had from their brewery.  I've noticed a lot of the other offerings they have had, just never got around to picking them up.

The beer poured a hazelnut color, which was a little unexpected.  Considering the flashy orange bottle, I thought I'd see something more caramel or burnt orange colored.  Nope!  Just looking at it, I would have assumed a nut brown ale.  But of course, appearance isn't everything.  On the first pour, I didn't get much head or retention.  On the second pour, I had plenty of head, plenty of retention, incredible looking lacing.  Aroma?  I could pick up the pumpkin right away, along with some of the typical spices that go with pumpkin: nutmeg, clove, cinnamon.  

Upon tasting, I didn't taste the heavy spice that I thought would be evident from the aroma.  It came off as a pretty light ale.  Not a ton of carbonation, so it went down smooth.  Bitter aftertaste that was very much on the light side.  Had a fruity feel to it, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  Had a light mouthfeel to it..not heavily bodied.  Very solid pumpkin beer front and back.  Would definitely have again, but I'd prefer to share instead of having it all to myself.

Grade: B

Price Paid: $6.99 (750 mL bomber)