Review: Deschutes Brewery Only Slightly Exaggerated IPA and HandUp IPA
Deschutes has two new beers for your consideration, and they’re both IPAs. Let’s see what the story is…
Deschutes Brewery Only Slightly Exaggerated IPA – Perhaps you’ve lately seen the state of Oregon’s quirky ads for its quirky state, touting how lovely it is in “only slightly exaggerated” fashion. If not, well, click the link. Now you can drink the sentiment, courtesy of local craft giant Deschutes, which has whipped up an IPA with the same namesake, flavoring it with Sabro, Amarillo, Triskel, and 431 hops. As IPAs go, it really isn’t exaggerated at all, falling closely in line with expectations of the west coast style. That means earth-heavy notes of a pine forest, subdued citrus, and a generalized hoppy dankness that lingers on the well-bittered finish. I didn’t get much of the tropical character that Deschutes touts with the beer… but maybe that’s the slightly exaggerated part. 6% abv. B / $10 per six-pack
Deschutes Brewery HandUp IPA – Touted as Deschutes’ new mainline IPA and bottled in honor of cyclocross, which is basically bike racing crossed with Stairmaster. Amarillo, Azacca, and Centennial hops make up the bill here, and the overall impact is, again, one that leans heavily on the west coast. The body is a bit rounder and bolder than Slightly Exaggerated, with a chewier character that evokes wild grasses, malt, and hay rides. The finish has that hoppy dankness, but the fuller body helps the bitterness to integrate better into the whole. Feels more “old world” in construction somehow. B+ / $9 per six-pack
Deschutes Brewery Only Slightly Exaggerated IPA
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