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Deschutes The Dissident

Deschutes The Dissident

Rated 4.111 by BeerPals
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Brewed by Deschutes Brewery

Bend, OR, United States

Style:  Wild Ale

11% Alcohol by Volume

30 International Bittering Units

Availability of this beer is unknown


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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)

ID: 31932 Last updated 3 weeks ago Added to database 16 years ago

Key Stats

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Statistics

Overall Rank48
Overall Percentile99.9
Style Rank1 of 1409
Style Percentile99.9
Lowest Score3.5
Highest Score4.8
Average Score4.244
Weighted Score4.111
Standard Deviation0.351

Rating Distribution

Beer vs Style

25 Member Reviews

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  • PHISHPOND417 3045 reviews
    rated 4.3 11 years ago

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

    Holy crap. I've had this beer so many times since moving to Portland. I've sat through verticals, had it at beer fests. People give us bottles. Never gets old. Best after a few years. Lots going on needs to chill and settle but a stellar brew overall. Beers like this make me really respect Deschutes alot. Lactic notes are so balanced and unified with earthiness.

  • BLUESANDBARBQ 2568 reviews
    rated 4.4 11 years ago

    Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

    Shared bottle, 2012 version, at KnoxBeerCrew tasting from local beer buddy ModerHead, a West Coast transplant with an excellent beer cellar! Ruby amber pour, light in color, short tight head reduced to a ring, little lacing. Huge tart sour cherry aroma, sour and funk, Brett, more tart berries, light red wines, SweetTarts, very light acidic quality. Taste is exquisite, sour and tart cherries that lightly sweeten as it warms, lightly acidic mouthfeel, Brett shining through, tart and zingy, lingering oh so nicely. Awesome beer, Wish List item.

  • STOUTLOVER72 2327 reviews
    rated 3.8 11 years ago

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

    22oz bottle -

    2012 bottle, red wax. This was still a rather young beer, with the brett character just getting it's foothold. Flavor is very dry, has a good amount of funk to it with lots, and lots of lemon-rubbed leather. Not a kick-you in the nuts sour, but quick complex even right now. Some light wine notes and green apple also showing up. I didn't get much cherry, but did get a fair amount of citrus. Very nice from Deschutes!

  • ICHORM 144 reviews
    rated 4.5 12 years ago

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

    2012 version, which I was excited to find recently. Nice head, tasty sourness, not overpowering. 11.4% of amazing. Now if only Mitch hadn't spilled 1/3 of it on the floor....

  • MITCHFORGIE 683 reviews
    rated 4.5 12 years ago

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

    Beautiful beer, and beautiful in its moderation, sour and tart like a lambic but really quite restrained, allowing it to still taste like a beer, and still let the cherry shine through with some sweetness. Medium bodied and very wet on the tounge. I personally found this bottle nearly chuggable. Love it

  • FARGINGBASTIGE6 1476 reviews
    rated 3.5 12 years ago

    Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

    Admittedly I'm not a fan of sour beers and perhaps my pallette has not reached the level of sophistication required to enjoy this type. Having said that, I can appreciate the fact that it was a high-quality beer. The aroma was best for me - sweet/sour cherries as advetised. It poured a rather murky brown with no head... unexciting. Along with the sweet/sour, it had a slick acidic quality in the mouth translating to the flavor. Thanks, slowrunner77 - I appreciate the opportunity to have sampled this as well as several other Deschutes beers that you so generously shared. Cheers, Buddy - and stay thirsty my friend.

  • SLIM_JIM 80 reviews
    rated 4.2 12 years ago

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

    The aroma is dominated by dark fruit and maybe apricots (or else it was the sour cherries). It's light, lively and fruity on the palate. A great sour brown. Reminds me a little of NG Enigma.

  • HEYBEERMAN 1025 reviews
    rated 3.9 12 years ago

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

    A well rounded wild ale with good brett notes and a nice balance of elements. Sour, funky, cherry aroma with a great look in the glass, full and lively mouthfeel with a wild and lively flavor with a few hints of cherries. Not what I was expecting but not a let down at all.

  • THOMASSOVA4 1037 reviews
    rated 3.9 12 years ago

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

    A HUGE thanks to Slowrunner 77 for this baby - I REALLY enjoyed it. Thanks also to Frese37 for splitting this bad boy with me. I split this bottle with my brother-in-law on 10 December 2011. It was quite sour and big on the cherries; however, it had a funky backbone and had a slightly horseblanket nose. The beer was a ruby/brownish hue - pretty but with little head retention. The beer was full bodied - not effervescent. Overall, a VERY good beer. I would have this again in a second.

  • CLASH 2576 reviews
    rated 3.8 13 years ago

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

    This poured an amber color with a white head. The aroma contains some cherries, nutmeg, cinammon, and vinegar. The flavor is slightly sour with some cherries, pumpkin?, spices. Some alcohol showing in the finish. Overall a good and interesting beer.

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