I was drinking Mirror Pond at a local place as it was the only thing “decent” on tap, BMC/Fat Tire where the other options.
I thought it was a little weak. But I was a good brew.
They took it off tap the other week and replaced it with Goose Island IPA. YAA!!. Well, it’s been a long time sense I have had GI. Not what I remembered. A bit disappointing.
MP is a good APA. Not a “knock your socks off” beer. But a good drinking beer.
[quote=“Nighthawk”]I was drinking Mirror Pond at a local place as it was the only thing “decent” on tap, BMC/Fat Tire where the other options.
I thought it was a little weak. But I was a good brew.
They took it off tap the other week and replaced it with Goose Island IPA. YAA!!. Well, it’s been a long time sense I have had GI. Not what I remembered. A bit disappointing.
MP is a good APA. Not a “knock your socks off” beer. But a good drinking beer.[/quote]
I’ve liked Deschutes beers and Black Butte is one of my favorite porters.
Goose Island’s everyday beers are all brewed at Budweiser breweries now 
They’re only doing their barrel aged stuff at the original brewery
I’ve only been there once. I just had their double IPA and it was very nice. No complaints here.
Im a huge fan of Red Chair and in think The Abyss is in my top 5 all time beers! I love deschutes
which one? chasin freshies or hop trip?
i’ve got a six pack of hop trip in my fridge right now. it’s a mighty fine beer
I have only had the Abyss and it was awesome!
Eh… Deschutes is very hit or miss with me. Inversion IPA is just so-so. Hop in the Dark is good, Obsidian is good. I tried the Chasin’ Freshies and realized I really don’t care for Pilsner malts. I wanted to like it, but it just wasn’t good on my palate.
Some of the other fresh/wet hopped beers I’ve had this year were much better. SN N. Hemisphere harvest, I liked quite a bit. Had Lagunitas’ Wet Dog at their brewery a few weeks ago, that was phenomenal. Didn’t like Surly Wet AT ALL. But I digress.
I have to chime in being I live within walking distance of Deschutes.
I agree for the most part, and find their flagship beers to be unimpressive, overly sweet for my palate. Give me the choice between a Mirror pond and a pbr, I will think about it for a while. If I were to list my 20 favorite beers brewed in Bend, not one of the ‘steady productions’ would be on that list. Do they taste bad? No way!, they are the 5th largest craft brewery in the United States for good reason.
That being said…I love most all of the seasonals! “Abyss” is the best Imperial stout I’ve ever come across, I’ve hurt myself finacially this year stocking the cellar with Abyss '11. “Red Chair NWPA” is terrific, as is it’s big brother “Hophenge” (yikes! just thinking about hophenge makes me feel guilty for badmouthing the others) Jubleale is a winter warmer from heaven. Black butte xx thru Black butte xxIv are beyond amazing. :blah: I digress.
In short, I understand where you’re coming from, but please don’t judge this brewery by whats available at the big box grocery stores. They make some beers that will convince you to live here. Cheers :cheers:
I only ever had 12oz bottles from them in MN, and I expect those traveled about as far as the OP’s did. Black Butte was cloying and syrupy every time I had it from the bottle. Maybe they don’t travel well, or maybe the distributors are careless. It’s definitely true that bottle/draft can be a huge difference, and transporting a beer can change it a lot.
Deschutes is probably in my top 3 breweries. Mostly because going to school in Seattle over a decade ago, Redhook ESB and Black Butte Porter were my 2 gateway beers to learning my love for microbrews. My tastes matured but i still find BBP one of the best porters i’ve ever had. Went back to Portland/Seattle last fall with the wife and went to the draught house in downtown portland and drank a taster tray. Every beer was good and a few were fantastic. The Black Butte 24 was mind blowing.
In these days of excess everything in beer (which i love), i still find MP to be a very nice, balanced beer.
I think it’s Oregano…
Anyway, I find Deschutes beers solid and well made. That doesn’t mean I like everything they make, but I think Mirror Pond, Inversion, Black Butte Porter and Obsidian stout hit the mark every time. They aren’t the huge, over the top beers that a lot of breweries seem to specialize in these days but they are very well made and at least around here, always in good condition.
Whatever you think of their brews, it’s great how homebrew friendly Deschutes is. How many breweries have a homebrew section on their site where they provide info like fermentation temp? Also, when they brought “Base Camp” to KC last summer, they hosted an event specifically for the homebrew community. Although I couldn’t make it, I thought that was pretty cool.
Also no offense but i couldn’t help but notice that the posters that thought Chasin Freshies was a bad name are all from places like Kansas, Missouri ect… We mock what we do not know. Until you have floated down a mountain on a pillow of flawless snow you will never know they joy and ‘i have to do that again feeling’. Chasin Freshies is Awesome :cheers:
Sit on top of that mountain and spin, arrogant puke.
Did you really just say that? Yeah, we’re a bunch of uncultured savages who have never been outside the city limits. My friend, you mock what you do not know.
Settle down people. Arguments like that never end well, and may even get you banned.
Back on topic:
Chasin freshies is a good beer although I prefer hop trip, AND it comes in 6 packs.
I’ve got some abyss and dissident aging as we speak. im more than excited to do a vertical tasting
[quote=“S.Scoggin”]Settle down people. Arguments like that never end well, and may even get you banned.
Back on topic:
Chasin freshies is a good beer although I prefer hop trip, AND it comes in 6 packs.
I’ve got some abyss and dissident aging as we speak. im more than excited to do a vertical tasting[/quote]
Hey, he (or she) started it. 
Sorry, saying “no offense” and then making an ignorant statement doesn’t make the statement any less ignorant.
Anyway…I got to try Abyss when Deschutes visited our backwoods city last summer and I really enjoyed it, but I didn’t get any bottles. I did manage to pick up a couple bottles of Black Butte XXIV, which were great fresh. Can’t wait to try them in a few years.
Once again defending deschutes…I was pretty harsh about their ‘steady production lineup’ earlier, and I’d like to revise that by stating that the main reason I don’t like their standard beers is because I’ve consumed so much of it in my life. Pretty much bored of it. (excluding juble, I never tire of that!)
I borrowed a Deschutes Conflux #1 from the cellar yesterday. It’s kind of a big deal, I can’t say enough about this beer! I can say that for $12 a 12 ounce bottle, It better age well! :? If you guys ever see this floating around, snatch one up.
I went out for happy hour last night to a place that had Mirror Pond on tap. I had a glass and I thought it tasted OK–not great. I followed that with a glass of Boulevard Pale Ale. The BPA was A LOT better. But it was probably also a lot fresher. It was a crappy sports bar that I doubt turns over a keg of MP very fast–and this is Boulevard’s home town after all.
+1 from page one of the thread
[quote=“Wahoo”]
A lot of the old school craft breweries (SN, Anchor, Harpoon, Brooklyn) take a fairly traditional approach to their beers, and always have. Beer taste has always evolved, and continues to evolve.[/quote]
this is very important to keep in mind.
for example: What was expected from a great pale ale (mirror pond) in 1988, isn’t exactly the same in 2013. A lot of Deschutes recipes were tailored years ago. Now peoples expectations and tastes are a bit different. That being said, I really enjoy most of deschutes’ beers
