Deschutes Cinder Cone Red Ale

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

Amber with a thin off white head. Aroma is lightly hoppy, crystal malt, caramel, toasty. Taste is malty, light caramel, light roastiness to it.

On tap at the West Coast Brewfest. This red ale poured with a decent beige head. There is a strong malt base with a smooth hoppy finish.

Dark copper color. Wispy white topping of suspended particles clung together. Subtle nose of caramel malt and slightly lemony/citrusy Amarillo and spicy Tettnang. Taste begins by illustrating the caramel malts initially, then levels off and begins to develop a touch of roast on the finish. Meanwhile, the hops seem to be unusually mellow. I’ll be honest and say that I don’t like this at all. The malt flavor is very amateurish (and yes, I am aware that I am speaking of Deschutes here), almost like beginner homebrew and the Amarillo and Tettnang combination needs to either be amped up substancially or switched out for hops more powerful and more fitting for the style, like Centennial or Chinook.

12 Oz Bottle. A touch of caramelized malt amongst a flow of tangerine and persimmon floral hop quality. Reserved, yet fragrant. Pours a percolating deep amber, with brandy edges and a rocky soap of aged ivory. A touch of chill haze. Flavor is a middle ground, matching mediocre average malt character with a fresh bite of lime peel and resin. A few tannic raisins and a nip of creamy dig deeper, while Tettnang brighten a dusty backend. A touch of meatiness. Palate smacks out with some higher fruits, a touch fusely. A fairly standard red ale, with decent drinkability, a good bit of cleaniless, but not much mystique.

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.

Pours a dark copper with a small, white head that leaves behind little lacing. Big hop character in the nose, mostly sweet citrus, and some small malts. A slight alcohol presence is detectable as well. Flavors starts out with tangy fruits, then a bit woody with malts smoothing it out till the bitter hop end. Nice and tangy palate that is slightly spicy. Not a bad amber at all.

Draft. Arrived at the table hazy red-amber color with a small creamy off-white head. Nice full malt aroma, with lemon hops and ginger. Nice sweet flavor with a robust hop finish. Medium body and good carbonation. Nice session ale.

355 ml bottle. Reddish amber body with a creamy, light beige head. Aroma is fruity, grapefruit and berries with a little hint of caramel. Flavor is balanced sweet and bitter with fruit. Harmonic, balanced, with a sharp bitterness. Really nice.