Saturday, January 12, 2013

Deschutes Brewery Mirror Lake Pale Ale

 Deschutes Brewery   Bend, OR

Notes:
Pale Ale (NW APA)
12oz Bottle
5.0% ABV
40 IBUs


Appearance:  Pours a transparent, light amber/brown color…some whitish head formed, but didn’t last long...now it’s just a thin layer barely covering the entire surface…looks watey…(3.25/5)

Smell:  Amber malts, sweet candy caramel, pale malts, cascade hops…not overly aromatic, but smells more like an amber/red to me than a traditional pale ale…I do like the sweet caramel smell, it’s somewhat unique and helping rate this a bit higher than I would otherwise…(3.5/5)

Taste:  Cascade hops for sure, a very distinct earthy quality that makes me think of Sierra Nevada…definitely a NW APA though, has that genre defining amber/red taste that malts from that area have…it’s good, but not outstanding…there is a touch of light lemon in the way after taste…(3.5/5)

Mouthfeel:  Light to medium body, light on the carbonation…watery…earthy hops bitterness in the after taste…(3.5/5)

Overall:  As of this review, this is brand new to Chicago and all over the Binny’s Beverage stores in the area…I’ve tried this and the porter (haven’t “reviewed” it yet) and I have to say the hype is a bit more than the beer can stand up to…it’s good, and maybe it’s just me, but I’m not feeling this new style of NW APA’s…ambers and reds are flavors of beer that I typically avoid and this one is not a far cry from that…it’s good and has good flavor, is drinkable and with only 5.0% ABV it’s a sessionable brew…Deschutes rates really high so like I said, maybe it’s just me, so even though I put this one in the average range, it’s probably worth the gamble on your end…(3.5.5)

Score:
(3.47/5)

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