Bend Wild » On Tap in Bend!

Sage Fight IPA from Deschutes Brewery!

admin — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 23:25:51 +0000

Sage Fight IPA from BEnd’s Deschutes Brewery can be summed up with two words. Chewy and resinous. From the photo of this thick bodied beer, you get only a suggestion of its enormous mouthfeel. This beer is perhaps the most resinous we’ve ever had in Bend. According to the a description sheet from Deschutes, both sage and juniper from the Badlands area east of the city of Bend. We believe them!

Sage Fight IPA from Bend's Deschutes Brewery

With a thorough olfactory inspection, one can definitely detect aromas of sage and juniper. Initially this beer is aromatic and attractive but one needs to long for a resinous chewy beer or this big IPA is a bit too much. Get a taster and contemplate a full pint of this flavor forward and filling monster of a beer! If you are interested, hurry down to the Deschutes Bond Street pub as it is only available there.

Cheers,

Bend Wild

Mother Lode NW Pale from Deschutes Brewery

admin — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 21:39:07 +0000

This pub-exclusive from the masterminds at Deschutes Brewery is a direct descendent of Red Chair Northwest Pale. For a previous review of Red Chair Northwest Pale Ale and all of its elegant virtues, visit the following link. Red Chair Northwest Pale. Mother Lode chimes in at 5.6% alcohol and a whopping 76 IBU’s. That is a bevy of hops! The Deschutes Brewery website boasts 7 different types of hops and 6 different malt varieties. They were busy brewers! As this is a pub-exclusive, this beer was not tasted out of the bottle. We went to the next level and bought a keg for the Bend Wild Tasting Compound.

Mother Lode NW Pale Ale from Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon

Bend Wild – Beer Scoring Scale
	Maximum	Mother Lode NW Pale Ale
Nose/Appearance	35	32
Body/Flavor	40	37
Finish/Mouthfeel	15	13
Overall Drinkability	10	9
Total Score	100	91

Nose/Appearance-Clear, dark-staw-colored hues decorated with a moderately-tight head. Lightly vegetal notes on the nose, with sweet hints of carrot juice and dried fruits.

Body/Flavor-Surprisngly light and hop-balanced for a 76-IBU beer. Subtle pine notes carry through the entry and middle flavor profiles, but compared to its predecessor Red Chair, Mother Lode’s late flavor profile pales in complexity.

Finish/Mouthfeel- For a Deschutes beer in the “Northwest Pale” style, Mother Lode demonstrates notable astringency on the finish belying its 76 IBU’s. A lingering bitterness further distinguishes it from its “brother from another mother”, Red Chair NW Pale.

Overall Drinkability-Mother Lode is a smaller and slightly less complex version of Red Chair Northwest Pale, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially in the summer months. As things heat up in Central Oregon, we suspect Mother Lode will end up getting a fairly frequent rogering here at the Bend Wild Tasting Compound. While Red Chair was likened to Eva Longoria, Mother Lode is more like . . .. Not quite perfect, but still well-suited for summer.

Celebrity Likeness- Terri Hatcher. Not quite Eva Longoria but there is a relationship and this beer is quite sessionable, much like Terri. Lighter in complexion and and a less alluring body than Eva, but this is a beer is worthy more than one pint.

Total Score-

Firestone Walker Pale 31, a hoppy refreshing California Pale Ale.

admin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 23:42:20 +0000

This excellent pale ale is a standout brewed by the people with a “passion for the pale”, Firestone Walker Brewing company in Paso Robles, California. This hoppy and balanced yet light beer is a summer blessing. At 4.8% ABV, this “California Pale Ale” is very worthy of a 6 pack purchase despite the hefty price tag that it carries in the Bend ,Oregon markets. With the early success of the beer guys at Whole Foods, Firestone Walker beers are now available in several Central Oregon locations, including, Whole Foods, Newport Market, Rays in 14th st and the Brew Shop on Division st. Pick up a 6 pack, you won’t regret it!

Firestone Walker Pale Ale

Bend Wild – Beer Scoring Scale
	Maximum	Firestone Walker Pale 31
Nose/Appearance	35	33
Body/Flavor	40	37
Finish/Mouthfeel	15	15
Overall Drinkability	10	10
Total Score	100	95

Nose/Appearance- A robust yet clear golden color capped by moderately fine-laced head. We’ve quaffed many Firestone Pale 31’s at the Bend Wild Tasting Compound and its aroma usually excels. This Particular Firestone Pale was strong but not exceptional in regard to aroma. Fresh citrus notes mixed with some delicate hints of pine set off the senses.

Body/Appearance- Keep in mind that this beer rings in at 4.8% alcohol. With that, Firestone Pale has a great comparative body. Think of the bookish person who wears baggy clothes but works out all the time. Pretty rewarding! While the body is still dominated by hops, there are light but pleasant notes of caramel and bready malt notes finishing off the body.

Finish/Mouthfeel- Hoppy but appropriate. The bitterness is present but far from excessive. We have previously evaluated the Skyline Forest Ale from Bend’s own Deschutes Brewery. We referred to it as a precursor to what could become a great Hop Session ale. Well, Firestone Walker Pale is the best example of a Hop Session pale that we at Bend Wild have found yet in our life long beer quest. Frankly, we’re disappointed. We wish that this was an Oregon beer and more specifically a Bend beer, but our taste buds don’t lie and this beer is a winner.

Overall Drinkability- 10,10,10! We love having this beer around during the summer months. Because of this beer’s aromatic nose, low alcohol content and light mouthfeel, is is good for several beers per night if you lack self control! Buy it love it and prod your local Bend Brewery to make something similar. You won’t regret it!

Beer Likeness- As this beer has a close relative from Steinhaus Brewery/Firestone Walker, this is an easy one. We’ll go with Mission Street Pale carried by Trader Joe’s. Another consideration is Bonafide Pale from Bend’s own Boneyard Brewery.

Hoo Doo Voo Doo IPA from Three Creeks Brewery in Sisters, Oregon

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:57:25 +0000

Hoo Doo Voo Doo IPA has been a favorite of the Bend Wild staff since its genesis at the hands of then brewer, Dave Fleming. The Three Creeks Website doesn’t currently have any information about Voo Doo IPA but you’ll have to trust us that it is part of their regular line-up. It tips the scales at about 6.0% alcohol and we’re guessing about 70IBU’s. Hop profile includes Cascade, Centennial, amarillo, and an unknown mystery hop( hopefully they know!)

Hoo Doo Voo Doo IPA From Three Creeks Brewery in Sisters, Oregon

This light amber colored IPA typically has a finely laced head and an very pleasant hop forward aroma. Plentiful late hop addition offer the palate lingering yet gentle hints of grapefruit, and pine. The relatively low alcohol and it’s lack of a severe bittering punch make this hoppy IPA very session worthy. This IPA fills a favorite niche for the Bend Wild staff. A beer dominated by hop flavor but not overwhelming bitterness. Think of Deschutes’ Red Chair NWPA. Three Creeks Voo Doo IPA can often be had on tap in Bend, Oregon at The Summit, and Typhoon. Ask for it by name so those establishments will keep this phenomenal beer on tap all the time!

Victoria Graves, of Three Creeks Brewery in Sisters, Oregon. One of our favorite Beer Maids!

While you are in the Three Creeks Pub, remember to tip the staff. They are some of the best in the business, and have long been favorites of the Bend Wild Staff. Oh, their food is also excellent so if you make the journey to little Sisters, Oregon, plan on staying for a tasty meal. We plan on providing a more complete review of the Three Creeks Brewery in the near future, so check back soon!

Cheers,

Bend Wild

Fresh Squeezed IPA from Deschutes’ PDX Pub

admin — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 17:05:05 +0000

This tap-only Deschutes beer has been in the back of my mind for quite some time. A couple of friends of Bend Wild tipped us off on this hoppy, but approachable IPA crafted by Cam O,Connor Of Deschutes’ PDX pub. The friends of Bend Wild know that we are suckers for hoppy beers and they urged us to get to the Deschutes Pub in Portland and try what they considered to be an exceptional beer. They were right. Cam O,Connor nailed this one.

Fresh Squeezed IPA from Deschutes Brewery's PDX Pub

Because this was a pub tasting, we didn’t totally geek out and score this beer right on the bar but you’ll get a few notes and a big thumbs up from us.

This beauty pours with an ample off-white head and a light amber color. That’s is where the average part of this beer ends. The nose is exquisite. The “Citra hop” mentioned in the Deschutes literature seems to be responsible for a wonderful citrusy aroma. It bursts with sweet grapefruit and dry tangerine. Different from Bridgeport IPA’s nose but equally citrusy. The body is full and flavorful and finely balanced. Lots of late hop flavor submit to a lightly bitter finish. We had this beauty of a beer at Bend’s Deschutes Pub and we hope to see much more of it in Bend. Congrats to Cam O,Connor and and PDX Deschutes Crew. They’ve been on fire lately and this appears to be their crowning achievement thus far.

Cheers!

Bend Wild

Axe Head Red from the Bend Brewing Company

admin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:23:32 +0000

Shame on us for taking so long to evaluate any of the Bend Brewing Companies many fine ales. Tonya Cornett, the now famous brewmaster at the Bend Brewing Company(BBC) has recently released her seasonal amber offering, Axe Head Red.

Axe Head Red ale from the Bend Brewing Company, in downtown Bend, Oregon.

Axe Head Red is a big bodied medium alcohol(our guess is that it tips the scales at about 6% alcohol this year, Tonya, please correct us!) ale. Deep auburn in color, this flavorful ale hits the nose with rich nutty and caramel notes and hits the palate with more of the same. It is well balanced by an attractive yet somewhat understated hop profile. This beer is about the malt profile but it is not sweet. It is a dry full nuttiness that paves the way for this seasonal winner from the BBC. More information about the BBC’s beers can be found at their website. Bend Brewing Company. Almost as good as the beer is the service at the Bend Brewing. They maintain an amazingly stable staff filled with affable and knowledgeable servers. We’ll have more in the near future from the BBC, so stay tuned.

The Bend Wild Tasting committee.

Skyline Forest Ale from Deschutes Brewery in Downtown Bend. The ground work for a “Hop Session” Style Ale?

admin — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:22:36 +0000

This is the first of what we hope will be a recurring column here at Bend, Wild, on site beer evaluations. This review won’t be as extensive as the ones we compile at the Bend Wild tasting compound( it’s just weird to write notes and wax poetic about the virtues of a given beer in a pub setting. We’ll save our eccentricities for the compound!) Instead this will be a more superficial first impression of what’s on tap in the Bend, Oregon Pubs.

Our initial pubside review comes from the Godfather of Central Oregon Breweries, The Deschutes Brewery. The initial beer….Skyline Forest Ale. This light and refreshing golden style ale was made in part to support a phenomenal cause, the Skyline forest initiative which is being spearheaded by the good people at the Deschutes Land Trust, one of Our favorite Non-Profits here at Bend Wild. To read more about why you should support the Deschutes Land Trust and the Skyline Forest initiative, visit this link. Skyline Forest.

Skyline Forest ale from the Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon

This very attractive beer is golden in color with orange undertones and a very attractive haze. An attractive floral aroma with light fruit undertones initiate this taste profile. Our suspicion is that this beer is some permutation of a previous Deschutes Brewery pub product, Spencer’s Gold. The hop profile seems different with this one being more floral in our estimation. This beer is undeniably light at about 4.5% alcohol. Our guess is that it weigh in at about 35-40 IBU’s on the hopometer. A pleasant mouthfeel, especially for a light bodied beer begs for a second gulp. The finish yields a bit too delicately for our palates, but this beer has excellent potential to be a pub classic.

We a Bend Wild have been craving a light bodied and very hoppy session pale ale to be crafted by one of our beloved Bend Breweries for quite some. With a bit more bittering and perhaps a bit more aroma(more of the same would work quite well for this particular beer) Skyline Forest Ale could very nicely fill this void in the Central Oregon Beer line-up. Currently there are no Central Oregon beers to challenge outsiders such as Mission Street Pale Ale from Trader Joe’s/Firestone Walker Brewing company or Alesmith X. Both of these hoppy session beers are of course brewed in California. This is a painful admission in the Bend Wild Tasting compound as we’d much prefer to drink locally if possible, but there are no local contenders for a “Hop Session” style Beer(Great Name guys!) brewed in Bend. This is a style of beer we think will explode onto the Craft beer scene in the next couple of years and frankly, we would prefer that our local beers lead the charge rather than follow it. Skyline Forest Ale is the best local “Hop Session” effort to date and has the potential to be phenomenal with a couple of minor adjustments. Regardless it is a quaffable ale brewed for a noble purpose. Request it the next time you are at the Deschutes Bond Street Pub and ask for a little more aroma and bittering hops!