Descheuts 2010 Jubel Once A Decade Ale

Belgian Strong Ale? Quad? I was expecting an imperial stout or some such, but it pours too fast and is too light. Nice, rich brown with a huge tan head.

Very floral and slightly grassy. I'm putting it as a strong ale. None of the Belgian yeast tastes. Just Googled it and it says winter seasonal, but that's so broad that it could be anything. It's got some spice to it, so that's on type, but the 10% ABV makes it a bigger beer than your standard warmer. The alcohol is well hidden though, and is relatively light in the taste until it warms a bit. The body is a bit light for most strong ales, but the style is as broad as winter seasonal so that's where I'll keep it. Good beer. Wish it had a bit more malt, but all in all it's very good.

Deschutes Brewery's Red Chair IPA

The label says "deliciously intense hop flavor without the bitterness." We'll see, I guess. I've always thought that this brewery was good but overrated, and touting an IPA without the bitterness seems like something an overrated brewery would claim.

Pours a deep copper with a great tan head that gets pillowy and almost never recedes. Strong bread smell, but I smell what's probably going to be some fairly strong (and bitter) hops.

Decent body and I'll admit that it's not as bitter as many IPAs are, but you can't have this much hops of any type and not have the bitterness. I don't know why you'd want to, since hops without bitterness would seem out of place. You could easily make an all-malt beer, and they can be close to this of done a certain way (I had an all-malt amber that was), or even add other brewing spices instead of hops altogether, but then again, the whole point of an IPA is the extra hops, so this just seems pointless as advertised. If you discount the BS on the label, it's a good, middle of the road IPA. Not as hoppy as some, but solid body, malt and bitterness that a decent IPA should have.

Best when coldest. As it warms it gets a little soapy. An odd peppery bitterness creeps out in the aftertaste as well.

Deschutes Brewery's Obsidian Stout

I'm always looking for beer I can't get in Texas, and this one came to me through one of the internet beer stores to the right. Deschutes Brewery's Obsidian Stout has many characteristics of the bigger impy stouts that I love, with a little less alcohol. To me, that just means I can drink more of it before I get to where I can't taste anything.

Pours super-opaque for a beer that's not billed as an RIS or double stout. Great dark tan head, almost as dark as Ten FIDY's, and it stays for a while.

Great roasted malt smell. Grassy hops fight through the malt, but not too much.

Straight forward. Lighter in body than it looks like it would be, but that's more because it looks like an RIS than anything else. More carbonated and lighter in feel than an RIS, which is exactly how it should be. Non-distinct bitterness can't fight through the roasted malt flavor, which is substantial. Larger sips bring out the bitterness a bit more, and oddly enough a slight alcohol taste.

Great beer. Probably my favorite straight-up stout (I'm not counting Founders Breakfast Stout as straight-up), and it even edges out a few RIS's.