Deschutes Brewery Fresh Squeezed IPA - Bend, OR

[PappyVanWise]

My next few VBT postings might make some of you pretty mad.  I received a mysterious package in the mail, full of West Coast beers, rarely see on the East Coast.  The first box was full of fresh IPAs, that taste best the fresher they are so I dove right in and began with the Fresh Squeezed IPA.

Although I deserve absolutely no credit for this, I'll go ahead and pat myself on the back for choosing wisely. This might be the best pure IPA I've ever had.  It doesn't have the honeyed sweetness of HopSlam or the IPA bite of something like Cigar City Jai Alai, just a crisp smoothness about it that I really enjoyed.  The hops recipe is Citra and Mosaic, which for me gave a very clean citrus flavor.  Not the usual grapefruit bitterness that American IPAs sometime have, but a really fresh orange, tangerine kind of taste. Sure it had some bitterness, but a very pleasant amount.  It also has a relatively low ABV at 6.4% that kept the taste from being too extreme.  If this was available in six packs in Richmond, I could see it replacing Oberon as my summer bottle

I should add the caveat that I was having BonChon for dinner, so my taste chemistry might've been compromised.  But if eating spciy Korean fried chicken can do this to an IPA, I'll grab a box every time.

Finally a question for everyone.  Why isn't there an enterprising store in DC that opens up a pipeline for beers not distributed on the Eest Coast?  I know some bars will drive to Ohio for Dark Lord day and then sell some pours, or drive to Dexter to load up on Jolly Pumpkin.  But for the every day beers that just don't get out here, I have to imagine with the way we beer geeks are these days, someone could work something out and make some money.  I know that Bourbon got into some trouble for selling Hill Farmstead (I think?) from their growlers, but couldn't some agreement be reached for willing West Coast breweries?  Just need someone to drive a refrigerated truck back and forth across the country a few times a month .

[SeanMike]

Finally a question for everyone.  Why isn't there an enterprising store in DC that opens up a pipeline for beers not distributed on the Eest Coast?  I know some bars will drive to Ohio for Dark Lord day and then sell some pours, or drive to Dexter to load up on Jolly Pumpkin.  But for the every day beers that just don't get out here, I have to imagine with the way we beer geeks are these days, someone could work something out and make some money.  I know that Bourbon got into some trouble for selling Hill Farmstead (I think?) from their growlers, but couldn't some agreement be reached for willing West Coast breweries?  Just need someone to drive a refrigerated truck back and forth across the country a few times a month .

There have been restaurants that have done this - for instance, Pizzeria Paradiso, if I remember correctly, and there was a time recently where Jack Rose did that with some New England beers (and really pissed off the brewer by doing it). One of the owners of Ivy and Coney told me that they'd planned on doing that with their Old Style beer, as distribution went to Pennsylvania, if I recall, but they stopped distributing to that state and so they had to stop their plans, as it's just too expensive to drive in.

I think that's what it boils down to, overall cost - especially when you're combining "enough quantity to pay for it" and "breweries who aren't interested in distributing here yet".

[PappyVanWise]

Here's the thing I read about Bourbon from DCBeer.com Hill Farmstead, Bourbon, and the Ethics of DC's Gray Laws, and I probably found it from a forum on Talk Beer or Beer Advocate. Sounds like a handful of places have thought about doing it or have done it somewhat, but none really with the blessings of the brewery.

[ad.mich]

World of difference between driving down* bottles or cans and pouring weeks-old growlers to a ticketed event.  Brewers seem to be really iffy when it comes to growlers.  They want to serve fresh beer and it's hard to get fresher than a growler the day of pouring, but on the other hand no one seems to take much stock in the ability of a growler jug to keep things at optimal condition more than a few days.  I can't blame the Hill Farmstead people for doing what they did - if that beer is skunked or even at 75% of what it was a month prior, you have a bunch of beer nerds poo-poohing it in their writeups at BA or wherever.  Especially if it's being poured side-by-side to the napalm that is Heady Topper.  It wouldn't stand a chance.

As for the Fresh Squeezed, I haven't tried it but I LOVED their Chasin' Freshies, which everyone seems to think is inferior to the Fresh Squeezed.

 *or driving up... I know Black Squirrel used to bootleg SweetWater bottles for sale for quite a while

[treznor]

I absolutely love Fresh Squeezed. Its a great IPA with a solid fruit flavor from the Citra and Mosaic hops (they actually go out of the way to tell people that there's no fruit in the beer!). Thankfully I can get it fairly easily on tap since I work in Minneapolis during the week and Deschutes distributes to Minneapolis

[PappyVanWise]

Deschutes does have a very impressive distribution foot print, just need them to stretch out a little bit further and reach the East coast.

[Gadarene]

Deschutes beers are consistently fantastic; I wish I could find them around here.  I miss Oregon.

[SeanMike]

I saw Fresh Squeezed at the Clarendon Whole Foods today.

[PappyVanWise]

Remnants from Savor?  I saw some beer store photos stocked with RRBC and the like last weekend.

Adding on to this post, I'm weak and just ordered some bottles from a place that doesn't mind shipping them to my house.

Edited May 17, 2014 by PappyVanWise

[jrichstar]

Just had some.....this is really great stuff.  Pappy put it well---not too sweet, not too much of a bite, just a solid, highly drinkable IPA.  Very fruity and juicy just like the name says.  Try some if you can.

And even better news:  it will be easier to try some shortly:  http://www.craftbeer.com/news/brewery-news/deschutes-brewery-launches-washington-dc