After work yesterday we headed down to the Deschutes Brewery for beer and dinner. I hadn’t been there in awhile and wanted to try some of the seasonals/specials they have on tap—particularly their new 19th Anniversary Golden Ale.

I didn’t keep track for full reviews—in particular, I have a bottle of the 19th Anniversary to review later—but I thought I’d blog a few notes about what I had. (You can see the current lineup here.)

19th Anniversary Golden Ale: Deschutes’ interpretation of a strong (8.7%) Belgian ale, and it’s quite tasty. They serve in half-pints due to the higher alcohol content. Malty, sweet, very, very drinkable. Can’t wait to crack open my bottle.

Wychick Wheat: Their site says this wheat ale "is a pub original, the third beer ever brewed here." It reminded me more in appearance of a pale ale, more orange-copper, but it was lighter on the palate than a pale. Moderately hopped, and drinkable. 4.7% alcohol.

Mt. St. Helens Keller Bier: A cellared all-German beer, they say it’s an "unfiltered Pilsner" but it looked pretty clear to me. Straw yellow, crisp, clean, very well done. I liked it better than the Wheat. 4.6% alcohol.

I also wanted a taster of their current (at the time) X-Tap, which on the site (and menu) said,

St. Nicholas Belgian Ale
A strong Belgian-style ale similar to beers in the Sour Flanders-style category. This beer is spiced with coriander, cardamom and bitter orange peel. The tartness comes from a second fermentation with wild yeast & raspberries.
Original Gravity 1.096 Alcohol Content 10.2% Half Pints Only!

Sounds pretty tasty! However, the waitress came back with a different taster, and said they had literally just changed the keg on the X-Tap, and the new beer was a "coffee Imperial porter." Sounds like it’s this one I blogged about, made with local coffee.

Based on the taster, though, it could definitely stand to mellow; it was strong, but had an almost turpentine, or paint thinner note to it. A little off-putting. Of course, I noticed on their blackboard later the X-Tap said, "Orange Coffee," so I’m wondering if they seasoned the Coffee Porter with orange? They do that kind of thing on the X-Tap, so maybe that was the off-flavor.

All in all, a good evening.