Beer Review: Deschutes Brewery’s Red Chair Northwest Pale Ale, Is A Should Try
For most, the memories are strong regarding your first Red or Amber Ale. Whether it was Redhook ESB, New Belgium Fat Tire, or Alaskan Amber, you recall that feeling of sipping on something sweet and full of caramel.
But as with many things in life we eventually move onto newer things, but we do look back on our first. For Deschutes, Cinder Cone was that beer. With time the beer eventually was retired for a newer ale dubbed Red Chair. A review of the label and you can see the words Northwest Pale Ale etched underneath and it becomes clear that this is a beer for those who love a good hop while reminiscing.
Red Chair Northwest Pale Ale is a beer that pours a soothing shade of orange with a strong amount of clarity left behind as the beer is poured into the glass. As the beer slowly settles, one cannot help notice the off-white foamy head that forms on top, which slowly recedes leaving little in the way of lace behind.
As the beer warms up an aroma of pine, lemon and grapefruit citrus, along with the expected caramel notes are released into the air.
Sipping on this we are initially greeted by a sweet caramel and biscuit character, before being washed over by strong citrus before the expected pine hop bitterness overtakes us towards the end. Overall this beer has a very appreciated balance with each sip and finishing gulp.
Red Chair NWPA is named after the oldest operating lift at Mt. Bachelor here in Central Oregon. And just as the locals line up for that fabled mountain ride, they flock to our Bend brew pub whenever it goes on tap. One thing we've learned, "when the brew pub talks, listen." For the past two decades, the serious beer fanatics down there seldom miss when we've hit on something truly special.
What makes this copper colored beauty so wildly popular? As a debut Northwest Pale Ale, it's an adventure all its own. It has a plush body with satiny caramel flavors derived from seven varieties of malt. Yet, despite it all, it remains a hop-forward ale with that distinctive citrusy punch. Just minus any mouth-puckering bitterness.
Our Thoughts.
You Should Try This. All too often the term Pale Ale becomes synonymous with something from Chico. Or for those in Washington, Georgetown. But for those of us who are looking for an occasional change, you can’t miss with the Red Chair. On a food note, this beer would definitely hit the spot with some Hawaiian pizza or maybe a BLT in salad or sandwich form.
It’s worth mentioning that Red Chair will be available until the end of March. So you best hurry to get your hands on this seasonal.
Thoughts by your Colleagues
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/55564
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/deschutes-red-chair-northwest-pale-ale/115824/
Cheers
About the photo’s author
Paul “Fruit Trees” Orchard, is an amateur craft beer enthusiast and amateur photographer. Throughout the many years in craft beer he is always carrying a camera (smartphone, digital, traditional) and is invites you to see that beer can also be exciting even if you can’t drink the photo.
In accordance with new FTC regulations regarding bloggers and endorsements, the aforementioned company has provided me a free sample that was used for research prior to writing this review.
