Deschutes Cinder Cone Red Ale

Brewed by Deschutes Brewery
Style: Amber Ale
Bend, Oregon USA

6/10/08 On draught at the Dog & Pony, Renton, Wa. Aroma is c-hop forward with a light caramel balance. Appearance is clear copper with a good white head. Flavor is sweet malt forward with a slight roast sourness and a medium metallic noble-like hop bittering. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a medium carb feel and clean finish. Overall, good complexity with a unique change in flavor balances from the aroma to the flavor.

12 oz bottle from Safeway, Port Angeles; Nose of grassy, lemony hops, with a little maltiness; crystal clear amber with a big, glass-lacing, beige head; flavor is light hop bitterness and caramel with a lemon note; finish is lightly bitter.

Amber colored, moderate head, decent lacing and retention. Aroma is grapefruit and citrus, crystal malt backing, some earth. Medium bodied, pretty nice for an amber.

I was unimpressed. Bottle from Morry’s of Naples. A large lead-up to this, and even loving all reds, I hated it. Very dry flavor with pungent hoppiness and bitter finish. No notes of fruit or sugar, nothing but a cold, sharp crack to the face. Pass.

A delicious amber ale. Decent caramel malt and hoppy aroma. Pour was a nice murky deep dark amber with a one finger off white head and not much movement. Taste was huge and full. Strong and perfectly balanced mix of caramel malt and bittering and earthy hops. The big thing here is how big the flavor is. Very nice.

Bottle. Beers of the World Live, NEC. Golden with a small head. Aromas are earthy and dry with biscuit malts. Spicy and herbal. Flavours are herbal, dry and woody with biscuit malts. Some citrus with a dry finish.

The Cinder Cone is another offering, practically pouring into Colorado after a recent border invasion that was welcomed by many beer avids. Though I’m often in the mood for a "red ale" these days, which I take to mean a beer with lots of caramel notes, the Cinder Cone fell a notch short of my appalingly high expectations. After the pour the Cinder Cone’s custard colored head flattens immediately into a thick, dense pancake, below which the deep red brew sits expectantly. The aroma cascades from the glass, robust and provocative with caramel, toffee, more caramel, brown sugar, caramel, and a dry cinder block dustiness. The flavor is somewhat akin to the aroma, starting sweet with a razor sharp cinnamon edge, then dipping into a thick bath of malt bitterness. From here it zig-zags between sweet, spicy and bitter all the way to a quiet and echoing aftertaste. The Cinder Cone is bold, but blocky, strong but bungling - a strong flavor, but lacking the good grace to be a nice flavor.

On draft at Flagstaff brewing. Pour was full murky red in color, large amber-ish colored head, solid pale ale / amber ale style lacing. The aroma was full of toffee and caramel malts, ample hops, pine and citrus. The flavor was heavy hard core toffee and caramel malts with a piney and rather bitter hop balance. Mouthfeel was hearty full, but the flavor combo didn’t work great for me. Surprised I hadn’t had this before, ordered it assuming it as another good Deschutes brew, something I can’t get at home, but it was only ok (and I shoulda gone back to the Hop Rod Rye instead!).