- Julia Thiel
I recently got a sample bottle of the Deschutes/Great Lakes collaboration Class of ’88 Imperial Smoked Porter, and when I decided to try it alongside the Deschutes Inversion IPA, I expected the porter to be the more interesting of the two. And it’s excellent—more on that later—but it was the IPA that really impressed me. The label says, “Paradise is stumbling upon our whole flower hop room and inhaling. Inversion is as close as you can get without knowing somebody.” And the aroma is pretty incredible, with intense floral hops and a malty sweetness.
The maltiness is also evident in the color—a deep reddish amber—and, most importantly, the taste. Though Inversion is made with six varieties of hops and weighs in at 80 IBUs, it’s not overwhelmingly bitter. The hops are very present, but the biscuity maltiness balances out the subtle piney, citrusy bitterness nicely. When the bitterness really kicks in on the finish, though, it lingers. You could almost pretend this is hoppy amber ale rather than an IPA. Either way, it’s a beautifully complex beer.
