Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale

Brewed by Deschutes Brewery
Style: American Pale Ale
Bend, Oregon USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker

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Chill hazen dark yellow with a slight bronzed tone to its body, thin dense white foamy top reached a finger high before fading quickly down to whispy fringe and thin collar, lacing in spots and tiny strings. Aroma is of Cascade hops moslty, grassy and floral, yet sweet with some fruity notions of malts inbetween. Taste intially hoppy with slight citrus and grass, fades off to a sweet middle of bready thick malts then dries out to a lingering bittersweet hoppiness that keeps a touch of zing on the tongue. Good finish with lingering hop spice and resin oils sticking well but light and nonabrasive. Feel is close to a medium body, albiet somewhat on the lighter side, still has some creamy, slick and quiet carbonation, and a dry, slightly spicey hop finish. Very drinkable, very soothing, a bit on the malty side, but the hops partake a good balance in its finish to make up for it.

Draft sleeve at Biercraft on The Drive. A nice coppery color. A well balanced beer, more hops than malts. Not spectacular, but probably a good example of it’s type.

Pours a hazy copper color with a white head and decent lacing. Aroma and taste are sweet caramel, citrus, orange and grapefruit. Medium bodied.

Originally reviewed: 5/21/09. This beer pours a cloudy deep gold with a decent-sized bubbly off-white head on top. Retention is fair leaving some decent lacing. This smells really good for an APA. Big pineapple scent pulling through. This mixes well with a heavy sweet malty presence. Very nice. The mouth on this is weak and wet. Too watery for my liking. Knocks drinkability down a notch. Flavor is a little muted as well. It’s not offensive at all, just slightly absent. Some malts and a slight bitter finish. This beer is not bold in any way, and I think it needs to be in the flavor. This could be tweaked a little. Not bad, but I’ve had much better.

Bottle. Pours a dark straw/light amber color with about a finger of foamy head. Aroma is pine, sweet citrus, a touch of malt. Flavor is slightly bitter and hoppy, but not overpoweringly so like a lot of other pale ales. Great with spicy food or on a hot day.

Bottle. Pours amber with a white head. Aroma is pine, flowery, some honey. Taste is mostly pine, some honey and lavender in the background. Caramel in the finish. Rather light on the malt flavors though. Palate is correspondingly rather light, but surprisingly not watery. Not much carbonation.

Pretty good pale ale. Especially for a twelver. Nice flavor but not overwhelming. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

May 2010: Pint taken on the veranda of Hotel El Tovar, on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, beat that view if you can! The beer was a healthy amber colour, very slight haze, but not enough to get excited about. On top sat a thin white head which hung around for a while. The aroma was mostly hops, a variety maybe, but mostly hops. The taste was mainly hops, the same variety as the smell, but again mostly hops. A dry bitterness with a hint or two of malt make this a very drinkable beer. They haven’t tried to over hop this beer, it sits nicely below the IPA levels and although it leans towards being that style they’ve resisited to go that far, good.

This brewery was built on two beers -- their porter and this very drinkable pale ale. This is a tasty beer, very much a gateway drug for those who may not be familiar with what a good microbrew is. I miss Bend.

It poured an amber color with a small white head. The aroma was floral and grassy with light malt notes. The taste was citrus and floral hops with a well balanced toasty malt back. A decent Pale Ale.

After drinking some big hoppy American beers pretty much lately this one is not a let down just a quieter version. Bitter, hoppy and drinkable.