Deschutes Armory XPA (Extra Pale Ale)

It’s fitting this experimental pale ale was the first beer brewed at our Portland Pub. This XPA gets its bitter twist from Nugget, and Northern Brewer hops, then delivers a pronounced citrus kick from Cascade, Centennial and Citra hops. Consider this your next hop obsession.

Malt: Crystal

Hops: Nugget, Northern Brewer, Citra, Cascade, Centennial

192 Calories

3.5

293 reviews

Bend, United States

Community reviews

3.9 Bottle poured into a tulip glass. Pours clear amber with a frothy off white head. Aroma is grapefruit, lemon, pine, and sweet bread. Initial taste is a nice balance of citrus and pine with a huge malt backbone. Aftertaste is big on malt with a little pine. Nice medium body with pleasant carbonation. Excellent beer that is easily drinkable and sessionable. This might be my new go to when I just simply need a good beer.

3.6 Copper amber with a lacing head. Sweet, citrusy aroma. Taste is sweet up front with a nicely bitter finish.

3.7 Bottle into IPA glass. Pours a slightly hazy gold colour with off white head. Aroma is citrus and pine. Taste is grapefruit and pine.

3.8 Clear burnt orange pour with thick white head. Aroma is citrus and bread forward. Taste brings out the pepper and pine. Enjoyable.

3.8 Great pale ale. Nice bitter aroma and flavor that flirts with the IPA range. Citrus notes. Light malt background that only compliments the hop profile. Good light palate with a crisp bite. Average light copper/golden color.

3.8 Pours clear amber orange, head like whipped egg whites. Nose is bready caramel, hint of figgy fruit. Taste is orange, grapefruit, pine, honey biscuit. Basically fresh-squeezed IPA, light version. It all comes together well, light enough to be sessionable.

3.6 Keg at Hopcat Madison, 8/15/16. Clear amber, large creamy off-white head, good retention. Aroma of floral, herbal hops, pale malt. The taste is herbal, piney hops, pale doughy malt. Medium bodied, lingering bitterness.

3.6 Mango and strawberry aroma, honey underneath. Cloudy copper, medium yellow head. Lemongrass, orange, grapefruit. Brief appearances of grain. Medium body, moderate carbonation. Great aroma, but rather ordinary on the palate.

3.6 Pours golden with a white head. Aroma of bread, floral and resin. Taste is caramel and citrus.

3.4 12oz bottle from Kroger (Hydraulic Rd., Charlottesville, VA). Aromas of herbal hops, floral, bready. Clear orange with a fairly lasting white head. Pretty dry, malty, herbaceous. Light-medium bodied.

3.9 Pours a clear orange-copper into the glass, with a nice frothy tan head that leaves trace lacing. The nose is of citrusy hops. Flavors are of citrus, biscuit, light caramel and peppering bitters which finish with a long, sustaining peppery pine note. The medium body and semi-active carbonation, alongside a substantial mouthfeel makes this a nice "transition brew", taking aspects from both pale ale and IPA contingencies. This is quite nice, and a very decent experimental offering. It provides a great quaff and has complexity for days. APA and IPA fans won’t be disappointed with this "experimental" release. Great job. Thoroughly enjoyable.

2.4 Had on tap at brew pub in Bend. Clear dark yellow. Slightly sour/grapefruity smell. Tastes like accidental perfume in the mouth.

3.2 Above average. Not as citrusy as the fresh squeezed or hop trip. Perhaps a nice segway from lighter beers to IPAs.

3.4 $1.89 bottle from Market Street Wine Shop, Downtown. Pours clear red/amber with an inch of off-white head. Heft aroma of kool-ade as the cap comes off. A closer sniff and it’s bittersweet berry, citrus, sweat. Taste is a tingly bitter mouthful of citrus peel - some orange and grapefruit in there, as well as a bit of toasted malt. Good stuff.

3.6 12 oz bottle. Aroma is light malt, a little hops. Amber color with off white head, pretty good hang time. Flavor has a little biscuit malt flavor, smooth hoppiness. Almost a little off flavor of some type? Med to full body. Overall, not a bad beer, but not my favorite.

4.3 Nice with a crisp yet round hop profile Very drinkable, over-the-plate pale ale 55 IBU, 5.9% alcohol

2.6 I got this on a close out. I really like it; several different types of hops going on that keeps it interesting especially as it get warmer in the glass.

3.6 On tap. Pours a clear orange with a thick white head. Aroma of floral hops, pale malts, light fruits. Flavor of light fruits, earthy hops, bitter hops. Fairly standard pale ale, tasty and well hopped. 7/4/7/4/14 (3.6/5)

3.8 Very nice pale ale. Combination of caramel mts combined with a lively spritzy hop bite. Will be a beer I’ll come back to in the future.

3.2 On tap at the street party. Pours a copper with a white head that lasts throughout the beer and laces slightly. Aroma has sweet grains, bread and grass with a hint of pine backing. Flavor has sweet grains, pine, light resin and grass with a hint of caramel underlying.

3.3 bottled - nice amber color. Malty taste and a hoppy aroma. Slight hops in the flavor.

3.4 Keg @ Drs bites Street Pub. Orange color with a small white head. Nose is has some fresh baked bread. Mild melon and pine. Fruity. Moderately sweet. bread and some caramel. Light fruit and floral accents. Decent malty effort.

3.9 Pours a slightly hazy copper-gold, with smallish head. Aroma has some citrus and tropical fruit/floral character. Flavor is very hop-bitter (loads of pine and spruce), with citrus and a nice sweetness. Really good.

1.5 Bottle. Except for decent co2 on the palate, this is an IPA. Looks like a yuengy. Bitter hop obsession fer sure. Long bitter nearly astringent finish. Enough already.

4.1 Carrot orange color. Pillowy head. Really aromatic, with traces of malt, citrus, and herbs. Creamy texture. Long pleasant bitterness. One of the better pale ales I’ve tried.

3.8 Had it on tap, pours a murky brownish hue. Sweet smellin streaky lacing, and very smooth tasting.

2.9 On tap at Pinthouse Pizza South Lamar. Pours a hazy orange gold with medium frothy white head that lasts. The aroma is citrus and pine. Medium body, wheat, floral, citrus, light finish, decent.

3.3 Bottle from VE, best by 07/27/16. Nose earth and caramel, does have grapefruit sweetness and a hint of wood and dank. Pour deep but clear golden, leaning over amber into lightest brown, big rock and lacing beige head. Taste medium bitter with light sweetness that accumulates to medium big caramel and heavy cracker, touch dusty, grapefruit and really fresh/natural juiciness, some dank and woodsy character, Nugget all over this, and the nice dark toffee and bark of Northern Brewer. Fullish body, a little slimy but that’s ameliorated by swishy malt depth. Very light hints of astringency and aspartame. Represents something of an alternate universe where IPAs took a different path; interesting to try, but probably a one-time-only thing for me. [2016.08.07: 3.3]

3.0 Sample from bottle during Woody T. Barrel visit at Hy-Vee. Poured copper, white head. Aroma was citrus, grass, cedar. Taste was medium bitter, grapefruit, pine.

3.3 Pours clear copper, relatively sustained frothy white head. Slight resin aroma, a hint of moss. Lots of flavor... starts pine resin, evolves into a tropical profile, with trace of sweetness, with a long dry finish. Palate is particularly nice, having a rich texture at the center. Enjoyable, straightforward, some notable flavor combinations, no complaints,