Review: Deschutes Brewery Hop Henge Experimental IPA (2014)
This year’s Hop Henge from Bend, Oregon-based Deschutes continues the company’s long-running experiment in “IBU escalation,” landing at 99 IBUs this time around. It doesn’t taste all that bitter. Sure, it’s got a nice slug of hops courtesy of the Cascade, Centennial, Millennium, Chinook, and one experimental variety of hops in the mix, which give it a bracing dried herb character. But it’s a curious chocolate — very dark and brooding — that turns this into something more than your usual IPA. The finish is drying and slightly fruity, with caramel apple notes.
Hop Henge has never been my favorite Deschutes bottling, but as always it proves itself to be worthy of exploration.
8.8% abv.
B / $6 per 22 oz. bottle / deschutesbrewery.com
Deschutes Brewery Hop Henge Experimental IPA (2014)
$6
8
