I was talking to someone to my buddy Allan (who I will henceforth in this blog be referring to as the Beer Genius) about what's a good beer to taste for Halloween. Since I think pumpkin beers are, for lack of a better word, dumb, I decided to go with Deschutes Brewery's Hop in the Dark as it has a certain Edgar Allan Poe quality about the title - and it has hops in it. I like hops.
Poured into a Piraat tulip. The first thing you notice is that this beer is DARK. I know I've said the other ones are dark, but you cannot see through this one at all - it's pitch black. The head rises up to a solid inch and then very slowly descends, but stays creamy through the whole descent, licking the edge of the glass.
This chameleon of a beer will fool you when you stick your nose into the glass. The delicious aroma of hops, not dark malts, greets your nose with sweet citric tangy goodness of the Cascade hops used to make this brew. This is a beer I could smell all day, and the surprise of the hops really adds to the overall character of this beer.
Time for a taste! The flavor is very unique - the buttery Cascade hops are there for sure, dominating the palate, but somewhat subdued by the black malt that gives this beer its color and melded together to create a really unique flavor, one I wouldn't initially think could be pulled off, but Deschutes does an excellent job. The mouthfeel created is lighter than you would think for the color of the beer, but it's a great balance to the flavor that keeps the beer from being overpowering.
All in all a fantastic beer - unique, full of flavor and balanced. Great job, Deschutes!
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