Mother Lode NW Pale from Deschutes Brewery

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-