Deschutes Brewery is proud to introduce its wildest brew yet - The Dissident. Arguing for more time in the cellar, this Reserve Series beer is anything but conventional. Fermented for more than 18 months in isolation from the rest of the beers, The Dissident is a distinctive Oud Bruin, Flanders-style brown ale, with a fruity aroma and flavor, and the first wild yeast beer made by the award-winning Deschutes Brewery.
To give The Dissident its characteristic sour taste, the brewery used a wild yeast strain called Brettanomyces (also known as Brett) during fermentation. Known throughout the wine world for creating earthy undertones found in many European wines, Brett is used in the beer fermentation process to create strong flavors typically associated with Belgian beers. Unlike English varieties that use traditional inoculated yeasts in the fermentation process, beers made with Brett take much longer to ferment and require additional barrel finishing time to balance the sour flavoring. In The Dissident's case, this meant aging a portion of it in Pinot noir and Cabernet barrels for more than three months. Another key flavor component comes from the Central Washington cherries that were added 12 months ago.
Due to the wild yeast, The Dissident required special treatment and was held in isolation under lock and key apart from the rest of the brewery's beers to avoid any cross-contamination. A secondary bottling line was also brought in from an outside contractor to facilitate The Dissident's bottling and ensure the beer and wild yeast never touched the brewery's machinery.
With a beer this wild and truly unique, Deschutes needed a special label to alert consumers to what lay inside. The resulting image immediately sets The Dissident apart from the other Deschutes Brewery beers, even the Reserve Series beers.
The fruit and acidity in The Dissident make it ideal for pairing with a wide variety of dishes - the high acidity is perfect for cutting creamy dishes or cooling spicy ones. Because of the fruity characteristics derived from the cherries, the beer also pairs well with chocolate. Deschutes Brewery President and Founder Gary Fish recommends pairing The Dissident with "anything chocolate, the darker the better, soft cheeses like Brie and creamy dishes like spaghetti carbonara, or macaroni and cheese."
A very limited amount of The Dissident will be available at the end of August as part of the brewery's Reserve Series in hand-waxed 22-ounce bottles and on draft at select establishments. MSRP for a 22-ounce bottle is $9.99.
11% Alcohol by Volume (ABV)
30 International Bitterness Units (IBU)
Beer Ratings and Reviews:
[1] Review by beerguy101 from Newark, CA, USA who has tried this beer once. (10/23/2008 9:25:29 PM)
"Sampled on 10/23/2008. This sour ale pours a deep reddish brown color from a wax topped 22oz bottle. Small to medium sized white foamy head with excellent retention and nice lacing. The aroma is woody, tart, with cherries and some funk. A medium bodied sour ale. The malts are fruity and sweet. There are also some tart cherry, oak, yeast and barnyard flavors here as well. The hops are floral and earthy. Lightly acidic and funky, the sourness is kind of delicate. Nice balance between the oak, fruity, tartness and funk. A very easy drinking sour ale. Very soft, yet lively carbonation. Soft and subtle tasting, one would expect more harsh flavors form a wild fermentation. Hides the alcohol very well. Its not as bold ad La Foille or Rodenbach Grand Cru, but I think it does an excellent job of recreating the Oud Bruin style. It would be nice to see what this beer tastes like in a year or two. Mouthfeel is full and round. The finish is clean and smooth. The aftertaste is slightly sweet with some sourness in the background."
Aroma:
9/10
Appearance:
10/10
Mouthfeel:
8/10
Flavor:
8/10
Overall:
9/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(4.4)
Sampled: Bottle
Value of this beer for its style: Not Sure
[2] Review by Sap from Tucson, AZ, USA who has tried this beer once. (9/13/2008 6:58:01 PM)
"A vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a frothy, somewhat large bubbled, initially three-finger thick, lightly amber tinged, tan colored head. The beer is dark amber / plum color that shows an almost brilliantly clear, light cranberry color when held up to the light. The aroma is quite wine like as it smells of dark fruit and oak. Further inspection yields a noticeable, but light, lactic tartness that accentuates aromas of sour grapes, tart plums and fermented raisins. The oak is the most dominant part of the nose with spicy oak notes, a woody tannic sort of thing, a touch of butterscotch, and some light vanillin notes towards the finish. This actually gets fairly toasty towards the finish (a bit like lightly browned saltine crackers) that is definitely malt induced but could also be from some toasty oak influence. The fruit aromatics get a touch jam like as the beer warms up a bit too.
Fairly thick and chewy with a tart, fruitiness that sort of clings to the palate, but doesn't provide much, if any at all, sweetness. The oak character seems to have contributed lots of tannic structure that has influenced the body and mouthfeel of this beer. this has quite a bit of berry-accented red wine like flavors to it as well as just a touch of perceived fruity sweetness. The finish has a fair amount of oak influence, but it is only one part of this beer and does not play the leading role that it did in the aroma. The tartness is actually less than it was in the aroma too, even though it was fairly light there. This has a substantial, flavorful, though somewhat soft, sour cherry flavor to it, especially as the beer warms up; both the flavorful tannic skin contributes to the flavor as does a fleshy cherry fruitiness. As it warms it also picks up some concord grape flavors as well as definitely getting more sweet.
This is a really easy drinking sour beer; it is very soft for a wild fermented beer and quite clean. The wine barrels and cherries almost seem to be more influential than the wild bugs, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. This is actually on the simplistic side for something that could have been funky and challenging; on the plus side though it is quite refined. This is fantastically drinkable, especially considering its alcohol content & I definitely like the bright fruit character that is here as well as the balance provided by the oak character.
Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ"
Aroma:
8/10
Appearance:
8/10
Mouthfeel:
9/10
Flavor:
8/10
Overall:
8/10
Final Rating, by Style:
(4.1)
Sampled: Bottle Sample Size: 22oz @ $9.95 Unit Cost: $7.24 per Pint
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(4.4)
