I have appreciated Deschutes as a brewery as long as I have got serious about rating beers. A picked up a single bottle at the nearby craft beer shop late last fall. This one is going into my ABGB tulip glass in which I determine a dark mahogany body completed by a heathy top of finely-bubbled, medium tan foam. The scent is dark fruit, grain and forest. Yeah, really. And now a sip, woody, a bit of cherry, malt, fairly bitter. Decent, a sipper for sure, not inspirational.

Bottle from a branch of Total Wine in Sterling, Virginia. Deep brown in colour, with moderate carbonation and rocky, off-white, head. Light, leafy hops, rich and bready, and also slightly toasty malts, red berry sweetness, some winter spice and some chocolate richness before a lingering, boozy finish. Very good.

Refrigerated 12 oz. brown bottle best before May 4 2018 poured into a glass. Clear medium brown with crimson highlights and small beige head. Aroma is caramel, medium body, low carbonation, and some small bubble lacing. Taste is caramel, earthy, and spice.

Wood nose. Clear chestnut, thin head. Wormwood, bark, maple syrup, a touch of DMS. Light to medium body.

Draft 16 oz pour in the Stadium Brewery, Aliso Viejo. Dark bodied, brown with a red hue, beige head. Semi-sweet with plenty of malty goodness throughout. Both fruity and earthy below the malty molasses.

Nitro. Brown color with tan head. Aroma is malty, toffee, caramel and fudge, some figs and raisins as well. Taste is toffee, raisins and figs, earthy, quite bitter finish. Super-silky mouthfeel. Very nice English Strong Ale!

Thanks to altonbrownd for the bottle! Poured into a taster showing well filtered caramel brown with no head. The nose shows light toffee and caramel with hints of fig. The palate is light bodied and well carbonated. Clean tea makes in background but mostly assertive hoppy forwardness that is out of place and too strong. More tea flavors on the finish.

Rerating this 10/27/17. Aroma of dark fruit, wet dog, caramel. Flavor is sweet caramel, dark fruit, chocolate, toffee, burnt sugar.. Looks like I enjkoy this more than I did last year.

Old rating below:

Bottle from Kroger. Pours clear brown with a small tan head. Aroma of wet dog, caramels, dust, and some dark fruit. The wet dog, and that is exactly what it smells like, puts me off a bit. Flavor is caramel, dark fruit, toast, burnt toffee. Lingering burnt flavor. I don’t like this, and I’m surprised.

Poured from a 12 oz 2016 vintage bottle. Aroma is rich and malt forward with lots of toffee, dark caramel, toasted bread and chocolate. Some raisin, cherry and dried stone fruit notes. Light spiciness. Pours a clear dark brown with auburn hues and a medium sized, thick tan head that shows really nice retention as it recedes to the edges very slowly. Moderate lacing and small legs. Flavor has a medium sweetness with quite a bit of malt character. Some toffee, toasted bread, caramel and chocolate with a light roasted nut note. Some light raisin, prune and date character. Hints of the alcohol. Medium spice notes. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and low alcohol warmth. Overall, an alright beer but definitely not my preferred malt profile. I’m also not a huge fan of the spice notes. Its a nice winter warmer beer, but that might be my least favorite style.