Brew Review #5 – Deschutes Brewery

Once again, I am very, very late with this posting. I have excuses though! First, after the review, it was a long weekend of biking (for the architect) and driving (for me) and then RELAXING.

And then, I met my new neighbors, and that’s taken up a lot of time.

And then, I was attacked by the spiders (somehow, I have angered them all…stay tuned for the riveting tale of horror) and had bad news at the dentist.

And, of course, there was the working out & trying really hard not to violate my ‘no internet on worknights at home’ rule.

So – here we are, 18 days later, with the review.

At 4ish or so, the architect & I rolled into a primo parking spot not one block away from Deschutes. My cousin (we will call her DC, because those are her initials) was waiting for us, and had already ordered her first beer.

We grabbed a sweet corner table & pretty soon, people just started showing up!

The architect & DC both ordered Cinder Cone Reds as their first, but although I am quite fond of most reds, and do enjoy the Cinder Cone, I wanted to branch out – try something new.

So I ordered a sampler – six 4-oz samples for $6.50. Seemed like a good deal.

I got:

  1. Inversion IPA – their standard IPA. Good, certainly not groundbreaking, but I buy this at the store sometimes.
  2. Green Lakes Organic Amber – Not as flavorful as I’d hoped it would be; not sure what they sacrificed to make the beer organic, but whatever it was, they should reconsider
  3. Cinder Cone Red – I love this beer (I love most reds). It had some great malt flavor, but not too heavy.
  4. Amber Dawn – This was pretty good, but a little more mellow than I like. I might enjoy it on a hot day on my porch after a hard day in the garden.
  5. Red Chair IPA – This was pretty fantastic. I thought the flavor was good (must admit I didn’t sniff it too much) and enjoyed this much more than the Inversion (so glad I finally developed a taste for IPAs – thank you Amnesia’s Desolation!)
  6. Pilsner #005 – eh. Fine. It was a Pilsner. Every once in a while, I get a great Pilsner (which is why I keep trying them), but most of them just make me say “eh.”

I also ordered a pretzel with mustard & cheese – which is apparently becoming my go-to pub food! It was delicious! DC also got a pretzel & the architect ordered the fries.

Someday I swear Ill remember to photograph the food BEFORE devouring it.

Someday I swear I'll remember to photograph the food BEFORE devouring it.

Just as our food & drink arrived, some archi-friends showed up, and then some of my work colleagues. We had a pretty groovy group.

My cousin DC & some archi-friends

My cousin DC & some archi-friends

After finishing my six samples, all of which I enjoyed thoroughly (except the Pilsner, which regardless of the description, I would label “light of taste”), I ordered a Red Chair IPA.

The architect & my co-worker/friend contemplate the brews

The architect & my co-worker/friend contemplate the brews

I don’t think anyone had any complaints. The archi-friends ordered the pretzel as well (that was so good, seriously, best bar pretzel ever, maybe) and a big bottle of cider.

Another colleague & her husband

Another colleague & her husband

That was the first brew review that wasn’t just the architect & me, and it was a good time.

If you’re interested, the next brew review will be at Full Sail (in Portland, probably, don’t see myself trekking to Hood River on Friday) this Friday at 4:30-6:30. From what I can tell, they don’t have a happy hour menu, but you can check out their tasting room menu. (And yes, Mr. Pi, I am now deliberately planning these things for when you’re out of town! Mwa ha ha….or not. So sorry!)

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