Hop Trip fresh hop ale from Deschutes Brewery

Nose/Appearance- Clear with amber and garnet hues, this fresh hop beer pours with a tightly laced snowy white head.  Perhaps not as citrusy as its label description might suggest, hints of pine, dried fruits, and suggestions of unlikely wood aging are present.

Body/Flavor- Excellent on both counts.  For a beer of only 5.5% alcohol, Hop Trip has excellent complexity and flavor.  A sweet malty backbone flirts with the ample signature of chewy and resinous fresh hops.  Far more palatable and sessionable than your standard northwest fresh hop beer.  Wonderfully balanced and intricate throughout the tasting process.

Finish/Mouthfeel- Occasional sips can hint at an excessive dryness which dominated last year’s version of Hop Trip are adroitly buried beneath layers of malty entanglement and fresh wet hop flavors.

Drinkability- 10,10,10.  This low alcohol, flavorful beer is becoming a staple in the Bend Wild Compound.

Beer Likeness- Think of a lighter, hoppier Boont Amber from Anderson Valley, or an old Cinder cone Red from Deschutes, but with better mouthfeel and finish.

Firestone Walker Pale Ale

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

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

Red Chair Northwest Pale Ale by Bend, Oregon's Deschutes Brewery

Nose/Appearance: A sweet, citrusy nose that could be confused with Inversion IPA’s little brother if not for it’s lighter color and slightly smaller profile.

Body/Flavor: Nicely balanced body with big citrusy and piney hop flavors.  Moderate mouthfeel with mild resinous notes balanced by ample flavors of Crystal malts.

Finish/Mouthfeel: Perhaps one of the most defining characteristics of this hoppy beer is that it does not have an especially bitter finish.  The body is echoed in the finish with notes of citrus and pine rather than a puckering bitterness.

Overall Drinkability: 10/10!  Stimulating hop complexity without excessive IBUs make for an exceptionally palatable, everyday beer.  The niche that Deschutes is trying to create with the “Northwest Pale” is a good one.  Here in the Bend Wild tasting compound, we much prefer late additions of hops and the flavor complexities that they add over early hop additions purely for the sake of bitterness.

Beer Likeness- This is a tough one but we’ll go with the old school Mirror Pond Pale ale, before Deschutes stopped bottle conditioning and before it started tasting like Sam Adams Lager.

We will mourn when this beer is replaced by Twilight Ale in Deschutes’ seasonal twelve ounce bottle rotation.  The word on the street is that the supplies of Red Chair are short, so stock up now, while it lasts.

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

Dry Hopped St. Rogue Red

Nose/Appearance: A dark auburn ale that pours with a dense tannish head.  Not surprising for a dry hopped beer, Saint Rogue Red has a muscular and spicy hop nose, typical of Centennial, Chinook, and Williamette hops.

Body/Flavor: A flavorful, meaty malt backbone that balances the hop profile nicely, but doesn’t necessarily excel.

Finish/Mouthfeel: Sometimes slightly thin and sometimes slightly tinnish, Saint Rogue Red doesn’t finish quite as strongly as some other great red ales from the Pacific Northwest.

Overall Drinkability: Despite our nit-picking, we actually think this is one of the best red ales available anywhere in the United States.

Celebrity Likeness: This beer reminds us of Jessica Simpson. Stunning appearance (aroma?) but it/she lacks something in terms of depth and complexity.

Mission Street Pale Ale made for Trader Joe's by Steinhaus Brewery, in Paso Robles, California

Nose/Appearance: This clear, attractive straw-colored pale pours with a light creamy head.   It has a deliciously hoppy, dry citrusy nose—something almost unheard of in other beers that come in under 5% ABV.

Body/Flavor: Despite Mission Street’s small size, it has enough hop-malt balance to easily compete with higher alcohol pale ales.

Finish/Mouthfeel: Many light session beers fall apart in the finish, but that’s not a problem with Mission Street.  This beer finishes with an appropriate-sized hop bite.

Overall Drinkability: Can’t beat it.  Ten, straight up.  Excellent everyday session beer.  Hoppy from start to finish, the way all low alcohol beers should be.  It’s hard to believe that no Oregon breweries are making a hop-forward session beer under 5% ABV.

Celebrity Likeness: This extremely rewarding, yet everyday session ale has those approachable, girl-(you-wish lived)-next-door qualities like a Kate Hudson.  Sold under the label of Steinhaus Brewing Company, this beer is  secretly brewed by the loving parent company of Firestone Walker Brewery and is sold for an unbelievable discount by Trader Joes.  Great beer AND a great value.  Now, that’s a fantasy combo that we can appreciate like the mother-daughter combo of Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson.

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.

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!