Bend Brewing Hophead Imperial IPA

“Gummi bears, light strawberry, cantaloupe, raspberry, blackberry on the nose. Malt sweetness in the sip is balanced with the bitterness from the hops and ends pleasantly dry.”

**Aroma:** “More balanced in the nose than I’d expect: toasty malt and herbal hops. Lots of perfumy/floral esters, including some roses. Super clean and fresh. Lemon, orange, citrus fruit character. Slight malt sweetness. The net effect is more ESB than double IPA.” **Flavor:** “Slightly sweet malt backbone supports the hops well. Bitterness is mild throughout for the style. Big hops flavor, with peaches, mango, and herbal elements (something Italian). There's a pronounced malty sweetness, but it acts as a counterweight to the bitterness.” **Overall:** “Easy drinking and light on the palate for the style. Lacks some of the complexity that could be helped by a tweak to the malt bill. If the hops click for you, it’ll be great. Enjoyable with some sweet flavors, but didn’t blend the best.”

**Aroma:** “Citrus and piney hop notes dominate with little-to-no malt aroma. Dank, citrus rind, tea, orange marmalade-like with light peppery spice and slight cattiness. As it warms, some graham cracker-like maltiness. Malt is subtle but shows up in the background as toasty.” **Flavor:** “Complex hop flavor without any singular flavors dominating—citrus rind, some floral, and citrus juice character, subtle pine. Balanced well with light sweet malt character. Citrus up front with juicy grapefruit and some pine, earthy hop flavors add complexity. Bitterness prominent and lingers only long enough to beg for more.” **Overall:** “Very enjoyable with good balance of piney notes and citrus/grapefruit. The hops are definitely in the front of the beer. Very nice IPA that has great, complex hop profile that is rounded perfectly with a nice, lingering bitterness. Very tasty.”