Deschutes 19th Anniversary Golden Ale

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

malty and sweet up front, hops in the throat after. not bad for their first bottled belgian. not my favorite style, but this is one of the better ones I've tried. not unfocused...just complex.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Pours with a golden body topped by a medium thick white head with some lacing left on the glass. It’s slightly sweet adn grassy with a bitter note. Medium bodied, smooth and a touch warming.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

First 'special' beer i've seen from Deschutes, they really represent the Oregon style of beer i feel, so unfortunately they dont have the Belgian fusion thing down too well...... Pours with a healthy head.... its golden. Honey and buttery wheat/straw like malt taste. Its a Big heavy blonde ale. Filling malts typical of Deschootes. Some belgian type influence, tripel like, in a way with light fruity, yeasty things, but it doesnt really work or seems to be lacking focus. thats the impression that i get

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Love the full body of this brew. I also rather enjoyed the bitter on the back end. The hint of Belgium candy sugar upfront than a crisp mild citrus followed by very pleasing bittering.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 5

This Belgian Strong Ale pours a deep gold color from a 22oz bottle. Small sized, quickly diminishing white foamy head. Aroma is fruity and sweet, touch of peach and apricot. Medium bodied Belgian Strong Ale. Malts are fruity and very sweet. Hops are floral and citrusy and a touch bitter for this beer. Its way to sweet and not very Belgian like in character. Lively carbonation. Has a weird kind of plasticity hoppiness to the finish. Guess I was expecting more from this beer. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is kind of harsh and artificial.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

A really tasty, fruity (can that actually be pineapples mixed in there?), and mildly spicy Beligian. Pours a deep copper color with minimal head. Tasted very little of the alcohol, but could smell it just a little. Amply carbonated, but doesn't feel/taste "rough." Finishes with a bitter twinge that resides on the tongue for a while. Will look for this again. Re-rate (1-25-09): I had an aged bottle of this the other night and the character of it has changed quite a bit. The fruitiness was more like apples this time around. Also there was a definate wood character with some floral smelling and tasting hops. The blending of the hops into the apple-wood was perfect; I was beginning to wonder if this was indeed the same beer that I had before. No spicing at all. Big bubbles of carbonation. Couldn't taste or smell the alcohol at all. Finishes very cleanly. Still delicious.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 5

22 oz bottle. Pours a clear golden yellow with a pillowy white head (after a vigorous pour) that retains and leaves a little lacing.

The aroma is yeast and some clove and a little fruit. It's pretty subdued.

The flavor is slightly sweet malts with some spices that seem a little off - kind of tarry. It has an ashy bitter finish. As it warms, more sugary sweetness, a little melon and alcohol come out. The mouthfeel it medium with sharp carbonation.

Overall, not a very good Belgian. The off-flavors really detract, and the flavors are rather mish-mashed.