Beer Styles

What is an American Pale Ale? A golden to copper-colored, top-fermented beer in which hops set the tone: citrus, pine, blossoms, with a bit of bread crust behind it. At 4.5 to 6.2% ABV, it's usually less alcoholic than an IPA.

How does an IPA differ? American IPA, short for India Pale Ale, is bigger, more bitter, and more heavily hopped: 5.5 to 7.5% ABV and 40 to 70 IBU. The West Coast variant, known as West Coast IPA, is built dry and clear, with grapefruit and resin up front. BridgePort IPA became a nationally distributed brand in the late 1990s and early 2000s; since the brewery's closure in 2019, it no longer exists.

What is an American Hefeweizen? Starting in 1986, Widmer gave this name to an unfiltered version of their wheat beer, hopped with Cascade. Compared to a Bavarian Weissbier, it's hoppier and cleaner, usually lacking the banana notes. The lemon wedge served with it spread along with the style itself. All three styles count as ales in the US and are fermented warmer than lagers.

Finally, there's Porter: dark brown and smelling of roasted malt. Black Butte Porter was one of the first three beers Deschutes developed when it was founded. It's proof that not everything in Oregon has to be pale and hoppy: here, roasted malt, chocolate, and coffee stand on equal footing with citrus and resin, and the alcohol content usually stays in the mid-range.