I, for one, am ready to welcome Deschutes as our new overlords, should they decide to take over the world. Yes, I am saying they can do nearly no wrong. And yes, I just paraphrased Kent Brockman. Live with it.
Deschutes kind of just gets the sheer rurban oddities of the Northwest, something that carries over into their “Northwest Pale Ale.” It is a pale, certainly, but still full of surprises. Its color, for example, is deep amber, and the head laces the glass well for a pale.
The smell shouldn’t come as much of a shock for anyone used to the Mirror Pond—sweet, almost perfume like, with a lot of depth. This carries over to the flavor, with sweet caramel-y malts coating the mouth, and just a hint of hops in the back. This is an extremely crisp ale, particularly for a beer just recently released in the midst of what is supposed to be winter.
So I’m ready for the rebellion, at least. And I will drink plenty of Red Chair while the coup d'etat goes down.