Grocery Store Beer: Deschutes Hophenge IPA

So usually I always review beers that are out of most individuals way (somewhat). I decided to pick one out of your average grocery store. What's better than reviewing a great beer, a beer you can almost pick up anywhere without visiting any sort of bottle shop.

First thoughts on this beer was that it would be interesting. The label is very down to earth, and friendly...if that makes sense? Deschutes is like Lagunitas, which is like Dogfish, but neither can be Dogfish. This is probably my second Deschutes in a lifetime. My first being their Black Butte Porter, which is ridiculously one of the best porters that I can remember trying. Anyways...

Aroma: This brew has your typical hoppy aromas. I get the usual grapefruit, but underneath that is a lacing of some lemon which was nice. The grapefruit aroma wasn't so much bitter as it was smooth.

Appearance: I'm use to seeing some pretty transparent IPAs, but this wasn't so much transparent, and crystal clear. This brew had the normal amber gold color, but slightly darker look to it. The head was this white latte like foam, and looked beautiful...Didn't last too long though...

Mouthfeel: Had the consistency of a soda a day later after it has been opened (all about preference).

Taste: Like the smell it gave my pallet a taste of grapefruit, a cut of lemon, and of course some array of over ripened tropical fruit. What killed me the most is that the 10% alcohol presence revealed itself. When tasting the finish you will not forget the presence of alcohol. On another note this felt like an IPA throughout the entire lifetime of the flavor, because there wasn't much malt presence. I would have like to seen a slight malt presence. Like I said the presence of the alcohol makes the drink fall apart, but hey some people wouldn't mind.

Overall:Overall: Not a bad ipa, but not too impressed. Alcohol dominance killed it. Other people would argue that this a great beer. If your not studying your beer than most of this wouldn't even come to mind. All in all definitely an interesting beer. I've probably mentioned this before, but if you run into Green Flash's IPA try it. If you want a more maltier IPA then go for Lagunita's IPA.