Random Drinking - Deschutes 20th Anniv. Wit and Smuttynose IPA

The 20th Anniversary Wit from Deschutes is now fairly easy to find in the Southern California area and I usually get anything I can from Deschutes at least once, and for many of their beers, multiple times. In the last 1+ years I'm really starting to like a good Witbier now and then, though it's not something I would choose to drink all the time. The aroma is predominant wheat malt. Clove-like phenolics are present with that and those two make up the main aroma except it seems like there is a slight sweetness, maybe a fruitiness at a very low level giving it a candy-like "undertone." The taste plays out the same way with wheat, clove, and then for a brief second at the very end of the swallow a slight sweetness comes through. The carbonation seemed fine at first, at a moderate high level, though it really lost a lot of that carbonation really fast.... and I wasn't drinking this slow either. Anyway, it was EASY to take down this entire bomber in under 20 minutes, and thoroughly enjoy it at the same time. 4.35/5

The Clipper City Heavy Seas Loose Cannon Hop3 Ale is one of the many good IPA's I've tried recently. This here is a 7.25% citrus bomb of an IPA. Clipper City says they use a lot of Amarillo hops and when used generously it's pretty notorious for giving an orange citrus-like flavor, which this was packed with. Overall it wasn't too complexity... this was a pretty straight forward flavor, but I like it that way. Not too bitter, but enough. Mission IPA (gold medal at the GABF last year I think), made down here in San Diego is one that this reminded me of, though Mission has a more harsh bitterness which I really like. Anyway, this beer and the pale ale I've had from Clipper City have both impressed me. 4.15/5