Deschutes Cinder Cone Red Ale

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

Pours a nice dark red with a small white head that falls fast. Aroma is sweet and malty with a slight hop and fruit tone. Flavor is sweet and malty at first then the hops bring on the bitter end. Fairly watery and thin on the palate but still a good red.

Aroma of toasted malts, floral and pine hops too. Pours a straight amber color with a nice lasting head. Flavor is also toasted malt, not really sweet, but nice and toasty. Hops come through as floral and maybe a little aspirin like. Easy drinking brew, more flavorful than most amber ales.

End of May, 2004, Deschutes is now available in Colorado: Mostly clear and deep copper with a nice head and sticky lace. Full palate with a great carbonation level. Rich malts; hint of sweet toffee with big toasty flavors. Burnt, woodsy characteristics give it some real depth. Healthy bitterness and muscular tettnang aromas round things out. Really good beer.

Deep glowing copper, huge aromas of burnt sugar, spice, dried leves and subtle peachy fruit. Wow! Richly hopped, lots of tangerine and peach, with a delicious crystal malt in perfect balance, and a little spice in there too. Absolutely excellent!

I was pleasantly surprise and very much enjoyed this one. Deep amber richness in color, conplex and hoppy in the flavor which has a bit of a cinnamon hint in the finish.

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.

06-Mar-07 (12 oz bottle, Best By 03-May-07: BevMo in La Jolla, CA) Scott, our Deschutes rep here in San Diego, stopped by my BevMo to conduct a tasting for our customers and Cinder Cone was probably my favorite. It’s a fairly clean red ale, very much a hops-forward beer without being really hoppy or bitter. The mix of old and new world hops are quite floral, yet suggest herbal tea at times as well. A bit of pine comes on toward the finish, providing medium bitterness from start to finish. Medium-sweet malts are both toasty and caramely, but are polite enough to deflect most of the attention to the hops. Yeast contributes a hint of orange stone fruit and perhaps a trace of butteriness. Floral hops really dominates the nose if I swirl the glass, but once that blows off, the beer has a fruity and grainy aroma. Medium-bodied, ample but soft carbonation, smooth mouthfeel. The off-white head pours to about a quarter inch in height, gradually settling to a broken film atop the hazy, deep amber body. Modest but intricate and attractive lace encircles the glass near the initial pour line, with a few random slashes below. Overall, an enjoyable beer that fits well in the Deschutes brewing philosophy and a very nice seasonal to look forward to.

20-Nov-05 (12 oz bottle: BevMo in San Diego/Carmel Mountain, CA) Here’s an aged bottle of Cinder Cone with a Best By date of 03-Jun-05 that I figured I’d drink to finish off the six-pack. I have to say, expired or not, this beer is still really nice. The flavor is still nutty, gently caramely, and moderately hoppy and bitter, with some grapefruit in there. Still flavorful and well-balanced, no loss of hops, no transition toward earthiness. Nutty, caramely and hoppy nose. Medium bodied, perfectly carbonated, soft and coating on the palate, kind of oily and slippery. Slightly hazy, medium amber color. The tall, off-white head shows excellent retention, maintaining a complete layer atop the beer. Doesn’t seem like this beer improves nor worsens with moderate aging, so no worries if the beer extends a few months beyond the expiration date. All numbers stay the same, except appearance because this beer pours better tonight than it did on tap at Humpy’s. (7, 4, 7, 3, 14 = 3.5)

18-Aug-04 (Draft: Humpy’s Ale House in Anchorage, AK) Flavorful, moderately malty, caramely and sweet, with a noticeable nuttiness, but also fairly bitter for nice balance. Has a mildly hoppy nose with a lightly malty, moderately sweet honey aroma. Light to medium body seems a bit on the watery side, but it’s passable. Reddish amber color. Light tan head fades to a thin sheen and small rim. (7, 3, 7, 3, 14 = 3.4)

From the very first “Deschutes” beer I had several years ago, they have been a favorite brewery, and one that produces a fine line of beers that fit all occasions, and thanks to “Liquid Solutions”, I once again have a source as mine dried up a couple of years ago.

The pour a crystal clear deep mahogany color, the head extravagant in size, spumous in texture, beige in color and the lace a thick glutinous sheet to meld with the glass. Wonderful floral aromas at the front, malt sweet underneath, citrus crisp and fresh, what a treat for the senses, with the beginning loaded with malt, ambrosial and the top middling in its feel to the palate. Finish is purposeful in its spicy hop bite, the carbonation moderate, and the aftertaste hop bitter and quite dry. Meant for the “Hop Heads”, as the hops dominate this beer and that suits me just fine.