The beer is a kind of golden orange amber color with a nice and sticky head like the last Deschutes beer. There's a little less that remains across the top of the beer, though, but I'm certainly not going to hold that against it. The aroma is highly IPA. It has the distinct floral scent of lots and lots o' hops. It smells absolutely delicious. I think I smell oranges in there with it. There's definitely citrus.First sip is a bit more abrasive than expected. It has a metallic tinge that hits and never really goes away as the floral taste with a biscuit-like malt kind of swims underneath the surface very quickly. I'm not getting much more than a hint of orange, but it's pretty clear that this is such a complex beer that it is going to require the kind of dissection that can only come with a proper quaff.
Tip-in is the floral hops, but it's not hitting me over the head with the hops. Instead, it's a light introduction to the art of flower arranging. It brings the citrus of the orange, and the tip-in is very different from what the sip was. The middle arrives with carbonation mixed with hops at the top of the mouth and doughy bread lingering in the background. The finish has a bitter bite that is to be expected with a strong pale ale, but the malt seems to do a very good job of dealing with it. As the beer warms, it does a better and better job.
This is a good beer and it's getting better as it goes down.
4.25/5
