Last weekend, I threw up a post about having the strange luck of showing up in Portland the night Deschutes and Boulevard roll out their collaboration to the public. The blind squirrel finds a nut, eh? They weren't serving the final product, but one of three "test" batches. I decided to capitalize on my good fortune and shoot over to Green Dragon to try the brew. It poured a nice hazy orange, looks very unfiltered, with a light and thin head. Smells of sage and maybe a hint of lemon grass. The taste was very sage, almost a bit much, with hints of fresh cut grass, a saison/wheat flavor backbone, with a teeny bit of hop flavor. I question the "IPA" in the name a bit, but maybe the hops were hidden well by the sage and other spices. Overall, the brew didn't knock me off my chair or anything, but I was pretty happy and was left very refreshed. To be honest, I can't recall tasting anything quite like it, so I'm not really sure what to compare it to...and being unique is a great thing in a industry with 1700 breweries. Again, this was only a test brew, so I expect the final product to be a little different, maybe a bit more refined. I definitely like where this beer is headed and can't wait for it's release later in the year. I'm drooling already...
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Imbibilicious, out.
