Mirror Pond Pale Ale
Deschutes Brewery

 

Hard to find a better all around 5% ABV beer.
It starts with the color - a handsome copper look, bringing to mind its British relatives. Hoppiness is reserved, well short of mistaking this for an IPA. Properly balanced.

 

 

A Pale Ale is a Pale Ale but being from Deschutes you know it will be good. Nice light sweetness & hop flavors, much better than the commercial pale ales available. Rated 10-25-2018

 

Picked up a six pack of twelve-ounce cans at Curtis Liquors in Cohasset, Massachusetts for $12.49. My first brew from these guys, have never seen in MA. Just ok for me.

Look: Yellow/orange with a generous white head.
Smell: Good, some tropical fruit mixed with a pleasant hop aroma.
Taste: A slight hop flavor up front gives way to a wonderful orange aftertaste.
Feel: Great, high in mouth.
Overall: This is always a good choice and one of my favorites from Deschutes along side Jubelale.

 

 

 

Very solid APA with a nice but not overpowering hops taste.

 

 

 

 

Re-reviewing this one as it’s been a dozen years since I last reviewed it.

12oz can (5/16/2023) into a tulip. Pours a clear amber color with a huge billowing almost Duvel-like eggshell head with lots of sticky lace.

Aroma is hoppy and grassy, floral. Piney Northwest hops, fragrant sweet malt.

Taste is a blend of bready caramel malt and floral hops; light bitterness. Clean water. Nicely balanced. Very old school.

Mouthfeel is soft, medium bodied, crisp, drinkable. Something about it is vaguely reminiscent of beers brewed with Belgian yeast.

Overall a tasty, classic approach to the APA, one of my first go-to beers from the ‘90s. It’s somehow comforting to know that beers like this are still being made.
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Previous review (8/19/2011) preserved for posterity:

3.83/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
On tap in an American pint glass at Bick's Broadview Grill. Review from memory (less than 30 minutes ago).

Color is a slightly hazy copper with a beautiful 1-finger head, good carbonation.

Aroma is floral and herbal hops.

Taste is floral, bitter hops with a nice pale malt balance. This beer straddles the line between a pale ale and an IPA. Used to drink this often and it's been way too long.

Overall this is a good example of a Northwest-style pale ale, generous with the hops and always refreshing.

12oz can. Date stamp on can bottom is 'PKG ON 04/20/23'. Very legible stamp.
Nearly clear, deep gold colored body. One finger of white head, which settles back to a thin cap and ring. Leaves behind strings and spots of lacing.
Aroma of toasted malt, with hops expressing the flavors of citrus and grass.
Taste has a solid malt base. Citrus flavors of orange and lemon. Slightly spicy. Grass. Floral.
Medium mouth feel, which is substantial. Some tongue sting. Very good carbonation.
A totally good experience all around.