Friday, August 24, 2012

Deschutes - Chainbreaker

Deschutes is based in Bend, Oregon and is one of my favorite brewers.  If you open my beer fridge, you can bet on finding choices from select brewers and Deschutes is one of them.  I had seen and read advertisement on a new offering from Deschutes called Chainbreaker (5.6 ABV and 55 IBU), a white IPA, in the spring and added it to my mental list of beers to pick up when it made it to Colorado.  I spoke with the local Deschutes representative a couple of months ago and she said that Chainbreaker should be in Colorado in August and I picked some up on my last visit to my local craft beer supplier.  I also appreciate the mountain bike references with the name and label.  Mountain biking is very big in Bend and the name also pays tribute to the Cascade Chainbreaker Mountain Bike Race.  Mountain biking and beer are a perfect combination and a nice Chainbreaker after a mountain bike ride would be very tasty.

Belgian IPA - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/174 - BeerAdvocate



Appearance - Cloudy yellow with a fluffy white head.
Aroma -Belgian yeast - banana / bubblegum, and citrus - orange / tangerine / lemon and perhaps a bit of pine / resin.
Taste - The taste is very good and I would describe Chainbreaker as a more hoppy (bitter) wit beer.  The citrus hops are a very good and complimentary addition that enhance the sweet orange ingredient.   
Overall - B+ - Chainbreaker is an easy to drink beer and I think it is a great beer for the summer.  I think Deschutes does a very good job of adding hops with strong citrus characteristics (Bravo, Citra, Centennial, and Cascade) to Chainbreaker.  I have used all but Bravo in various homebrews and these are excellent hop selections (IMHO).

Chainbreaker description - “Deschutes is taking you into the next beer frontier. Brewed with wheat and pilsner malt; this IPA displays beautiful citrus aromas from Cascade and Citra hops that meld with the esters of Belgian yeast. Think thirst quenching hopped-up wit beer with enough IBUs to warrant the IPA name.”  http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/brew/chainbreaker-white-ipa

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