Deschutes Round 2 (October 2011)

Last visited in November 2008 soon after opening. The review got lost with all of the beer, so another visit was in order.

The tasting crew consisted of Ben (the belgian lover), Rob (all over the map), Scott (likes em dark), Todd (gimme the porter) and Steve (i'll drink anything) .

There was a bit of mixup in our taster trays so it was a wild ride of tastings.

The list
Sour Crown Brown (yuk)
Bachelor Bitter (not as bitter as expected, too mild, favorite so far)
Chainbreaker White IPA (Robs favorite)
Hop trip (not too bitter, mild, hop salad, smooth like hoppy amber, better than IPA)
Odysseus IPA (smooth and creamy, nice IPA)
Jubel ale (nice flavor, )
Cascade Lakes organic Ale (pleasant, nice and crisp, a little fruity)
Inversion IPA
Rye-ders of the storm (like it favorite so far, better than pale)
Gluten Free NW Pale (pretty awesome, after taste not so good, Belgian flavor, never order it, the worst)
Mirror Pond
Fresh Hop Mirror Pond
Black Butter Porter- best of tray 
Mirror Pond cask (smooth, taste like brown ale)
Stout.. (smooth, coffee tastes)
twisted white (pucker beer, kinda sour, my favorite tart beer, least favorite), for a sour i like it, but would never order a pint)
Crown Point (almost smoky, different, least favorite)

The reviews were pretty jumbled because there were so many. A daunting tasting with 3 trays of 6 per person.

The winners:
Rye-ders of the storm (1 1st vote, 2 seconds)
Black Butte Porter (2 1st votes and a 3rd)

The gluten free was a surprise beer. Not loved by all but it wasn't completely out to lunch either. I was a fan of the Chainbreaker white IPA but I was alone in calling it a favorite.

For the food side of things, we avoided the mistake of trip #1 where we had the thai wings of fire first (awesome food but a palate killer for beer tasting).
beet burger- nothing like a burger
yellow burger- 2 orders, neither person blown away
meat flatbread- good flavor, crust okay (then again it was judged by a pizza connoisseur..
Overall inventive food, but not spectacular.


Recap-
The beer collection at the Portland brewpub was quite extensive. Something for everyone and very few losers. The food was decent but not the reason to come (other than the thai wings, yum)


until next month


Rob