Beer Me: Deschutes Brewing Chainbreaker White IPA

Beer and bikes go together like similes and metaphors. Deschutes Brewing out of Bend, Oregon, is embracing the love affair with its new Chainbreaker White IPA, a light, citrus-tinged brew perfect for postride refreshment.

It pours light and clear, with a minimal head. There is a distinct lemon zest followed by a mild hoppy aftertaste, but it’s subtler than a traditional India Pale Ale. In fact, if it didn’t say IPA on the bottle I would never have known it. Hop-haters shouldn’t immediately pass on this one. It has a traditional wheat beer’s thirst-quenching smoothness, but it doesn’t quite swing into the served-with-a-slice-of-fruit territory. At 5.6 percent ABV it’s milder than most IPA’s too, so you can enjoy a second before you hit the trail (but not the road). IBUs clock in at a middle-of-the-trail 55.

The name is inspired by the Cascade Chainbreaker, a legendary mountain bike race in central Oregon. Chainbreaker was a special edition brew at first, but has since spread in six packs and cases across the country.