I couldn’t stare at the Twilight Ale in the fridge too long before I had to open one—but that gives me a good excuse to write about it. This was one of the three bottles of Twilight that I received from Deschutes Brewery this week and it’s definitely a seasonal favorite.

At 5% alcohol this is the perfect summer session beer and is a nice break from IPAs and Strong Ales and other “big” beers. This is also one of Deschutes’ most consistently-brewed beers for a seasonal; if you read my previous reviews in 2007 and 2008, you’ll see what I mean.

Appearance: Straw-golden in color with a pleasing white head. [I actually wrote “straw-gold” last year too.]

Smell: Hop-forward with lightly citrus and floral notes, a touch of flossy candy, a tiny bit of “catty” and green hops on the vine. Toasty and biscuit behind it all.

Taste: Toasty crisp malts that are refreshing and balanced very well with a bright hop flavor. Bitterness is moderate and gives preference to the toasted biscuit/wheat character. Think crusty fresh-baked bread.

Mouthfeel: Crisp and light-bodied, but not too light. Very clean, and very refreshing.

Overall: Outstanding, especially fresh like this. Eminently drinkable and perfect for summer.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B. On RateBeer, it scores 3.17 out of 5 and is in their 59th percentile.

(Strangely, BeerAdvocate classifies Twilight as an American Pale Ale, while RateBeer says it’s a Bitter. Of the two I’d agree with BeerAdvocate, but on the whole I think this qualifies as a bonafide “Summer Ale” category, even though none is officially recognized.)