19th Anniversary Belgian Style Golden Ale
Deschutes Brewery

Beer sent via limesmut in a nice trade, thanks again!

Poured a golden yellow with a nice white head - carbonation looks good, although the head dies a bit quick.

Candied apples along with the Belgium yeast bubble up in the aroma, and the quaff adds a tangy twist of soured fruit. A small presence of hot alcohol distracts from the overall goodness of this beer, but let 'er age for a year and this may move into the "A" category.

Dusty bottle (14 years old) at share. Hazy copper pour, skin of head. Light malty aroma, a little musty. Sweet malt, cereal, faded yeasty notes.. Holding up ok. Drinkable.

 

 

 

De 2007 vintage shared with golfing buddy, dug out of cellar, 9.11.2010 poured into wine glasses.

Cork and caged bottles opened with well-appreciated pop, a bit of gun smoke. Light golden/a bit orangish clear body, busy carbonation trails rising quickly up the body. Not a lot of head, 1 finger quick dissipating in first glass pour, 1/2 finger in the other, minimal lacing. Spicy/sweet nose, coriander, white pepper, another spice I'm having problem isolating (grains of paradise?), good size sweet maltiness, with some flowery hops. Taste mirrors, nose, a bit on the sweet side, the hops have subsumed over time, peppery-sweet. We didn't have a problem finishing the bottle. Though it may have lost a bit of hoppiness over time, this nice golden was fairly well-balanced, and retained a nice, though, muted, hoppiness. I think this beer is near it's peak.

22oz bottle, been sitting on it for a bit since JohnGalt1 sent me this bottle a few months ago in a great box...served in a Duvel tulip

A - big healthy amount of very frothy and loose, white foam. spotty lacing as it falls, eventually settling to a small floating island. the beer is crystal clear, pale golden color...like apple juice. the last pour from the bottle (about 8oz) sent a significant amount of yeast into the glass.

S - noticed the intense fruitiness as i poured...apples, pears, white grapes. pretty grainy as well, whiffs of minerals tag along. smells a bit hotter than the ABV, alcohol burn definitely in the nose. the fruits "ripen" as it opens up, last pour put a slight spice and belgian yeast scent into the mix.

T - starts off a with some touches of sweetness...light caramel, apples, slight banana and cloves. alcohol is present again here, kind of surprised a couple years hasn't taken much of the edge off. has some belgian characteristics, light yeast and a subtle pepper like those found in a Saison. aftertaste is of apple skin, cloves, and yeast. i actually wasnt sure about this at first but its kind of growing on me as it opens up. quite unique...like some sort of hefeweizen/saison/tripel/BPA hyrbid.

M - pretty subtle carbonation. medium to thinnish bodied, pretty slick and oily feel. alcohol here is again a factor, adding a noticeable burn with each sip.

D - an interesting one here for sure. a bit better than my scoring would indicate, really puzzled by the abundance of booze for a relatively low"ish" ABV beer that is two years old at this point. again, quite unique and somewhat enjoyable because of that.

I had the pleasure of this wonderful beer crossing my path recently. Served cold and poured into a pint glass, this one welcomed the afternoon in yesterday, consumed on 01/01/2009.

The pour was very nice, a light golden amber with a nice clarity to it. Small white head, maybe a half inch gave way quicky to a bare top that was dotted with bubbles of carbonation. Lots of carbonation here on this one as chains of bubbles relentlessly reached the surface.

The aroma was mixed with light grain, some nice touches of light fruit, pears and apricots come to mind. Some light fresh grass like hop notes boucning around in there as well. Very complex I have to say. The taste was superb, honestly one of the best blond ales I have had, and I am not really that big of a fan of the style. Light grains, apples and pears all very prevelant, along with a nice touch of bready like flavor in the mid palate. Prickly carbonation was bouncing around here the entire time. Really giving it a light and bouncy nature. Very sessionable as no hint of alcohol on this one at all.

Overall a very solid beer here, nothing at all would keep me from drinking more then one of these in a day, really very good, simply a solid beer.

22oz bomber from ArrogantB as an extra. Thanks Michael

Poured into Duvel tulip. Dark gold, orange color. Bright white and soapy head. Decent bead rose from all over. Sweet bready malt and an apple-like yeasty smell. The two together is almost like apple pie. First taste is fruity and sweet switching mid-palate to a bitterness with a puckering bite. Alcohol is there and beer has a dry finish. This is a pretty good interpretation on a golden Belgian. Medium bodied with lots of bubbly. Not thin and not syrupy. Little bit hot and peppery in the alcohol department, but otherwise very drinkable.

Appearance: Pours a hazy golden color with a decent head (though modest for a Belgian style); the lacing is rather good, however

Smell: Fusel alcohol is a bit too prominent for me, although I often find that to be the case in this style; there is also some fruit (melon and pear) and spice (cinnamon and allspice) that is underneath

Taste: Up front, this is the best example of a graham cracker flavor that I have encountered; the cinnamon flavor builds and turns peppery by, mid-palate, when the fusel alcohol also impacts the flavor profile; the fruit, along with some orange and honey also appears at this stage; after the swallow, the fusel flavors detract from the rest, and there is an excess bitterness that doesn't hit the BSPA style;

Mouthfeel: Medium body with prickly carbonation; warmth on the finish; not as creamy as I would like in a Belgian style

Drinkability: Just a few too many flaws to hit the nail on the head, but few American brewers do Belgians well, and the BSPA is a style that is really tricky

Thanks, JohnGalt1, for the opportunity

A- A light and clear golden with a big white fluffy head, although it doesn't stay put too long. There was a huge amount of sediment in this beer that is easily stirred up so there are some suspended particles in there. Lots of bubbles too. A thin seawater-like froth sits atop the beer the entire time, and is easily regenerable.

S- Very belgiany... pretty surprising huh? If it was a blind taste test I would probably think Delirium Tremens.

T- Has a big sweetness to it, accompined by a lot of earthiness to balance it out. It does finish with a kind of dullness, and low bitterness that lingers.

M/D- Very light mouthfeel, effervescent, overall pretty good, but not outstanding.

Big thanks to biegaman for bringing this one from Cali.

Pours a cloudy golden, thin white head forms, drops some decent lace spots, thin ring around the glass, looks okay. Smell is sweet, bananas, lots of fruit, some candi sugar, alcohol, some spice, decent amount of malt, pineapple, interesting. Taste is caramel, floral, some biscuit, banana, fruit smoothie, wheat and vanilla, alcohol, some spice, weird. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation, significant warmth going down. Thanks Jan!

biegaman was nice enough to share this one. thanks jan!

22oz bottle. sampled april 5/08.

pours a deep yellow with a bit of haze and a medium fairly dense white head. the head drops fairly quick and leaves a bit of spotty lace behind.

aroma is good. alcohol. candi sugar. touch of light belgian spice. bread and cracker malt. bit of grain. light citrus. bit of belgian yeast character too.

taste is good. alcohol up front again. just below medium bitterness level. bit of honey sweetness. grainy. belgian yeast. bread and cracker malt. bit of biscuit. slightly floral hops.

mouthfeel is good. medium-high carbonation level. medium body with a fairly dry finish.

drinkability is ok. the alcohol is kind of obvious in both the flavour and aroma, giving it a bit of boozy feel. also definitely has a more american malt profile. still overall it's fairly nice.

Half finger of off white head over a cloudy dark golden liquid. Smells earthy and wheat. Esters of oranges and pears. Rather hoppy for the style, IMO.

Tastes wet sweet with esters drying woodienss and mild phenolic. Lemony and a bit of pepper. Musty earthy hops which add a mild garssiness.. A small contribution of belgian candi-sugar. Finish hangs sweet in the back of the throat, but dry on the upper palette. Heartburn in the gut makes me wonder if some non-yeast critters are living in this beer. Light body and md-lgiht mouthfeel moderate carbonation.

Lemony gold with a light snow shower of yeast and variously sized bubbles blip-blip-blipping their way up to a pearl colored cap that looks more American than Belgian. It's an attrative lid, though, and is beginning to deposit an unbroken blanket of finely pocked lace.

Golden Ale's nose is strangely unaromatic. With such a worldly array of hops (Czech Saaz, Slovenian Goldings, Pacific NW Liberty and Brewer's Gold), not to mention Curacao orange peel, this sucker should be bursting out of the glass. A true Belgian yeast strain might have helped, but I'm betting that a simple ale yeast was used. Other than untoasted malt, a sketchy hoppiness and stainless steel, there isn't much going on. Warming helps and subtracts the metal.

Deschutes wants us to know that 19th Anniversary is their first attempt at a Belgian-style ale. I could have guessed because it isn't exactly a rousing success. The beer tastes a lot like a higher class malt liquor due to the simplicity and the prominence of the alcohol. On second thought, a higher class Euro strong lager is closer to the mark thanks to the grassy hops. Saaz dominate.

Considerably bitter, lemongrassy hops share the spotlight with a warm white pepperiness. The orange peel is a mere afterthought. The beer could have used more 'French pilsner malt' and/or more 'Belgian white candy diamonds' (candi sugar, presumably) to give it balance. A little more cohesion would be nice as well... which makes me think that more rest will do this one some good.

The mouthfeel is better than acceptable. It's medium in a general sense, thanks to an abundance of bubbles that provide quite a bit of lift. Although it falls short of the creamy voluminousness that all good Belgian beer has, I'm fine with the way it was designed.

This offering is exhibit 'A' in why Belgian-style beer is more difficult to brew than it looks. The fact that there are only a handful of American craft brewers up to the task is further proof. In the end, Deschutes 19th Anniversary Belgian Style Golden Ale is an acceptable, if somewhat unrefined, attempt at a BSPA that no one should mistake for the real thing.

22oz from the cellar; originally picked up at New Vintage for about $7 ... cellared for about 5-6 months. Shared with my half poured into my trusty red wine glass.

Big fluffy and chunky white head that drops like I've never seen a head drop before. No lacing. Absolute minimum collar. Left behind a very pretty crystal clear straw colored brew.

Nose is earthy hops and toasted bread. Sage and grassy herbs mixed with pale malts and Belgian candy sugar.. bubblegum and orange peel.

Palate is tropical fruits and spicy hops.. American pale malts and Belgian esters are the finish. Medium/large body with a big bubble carbonation. Weird lingering estery flavors... quite a bit too sweet, but still pretty tasty... I can't get past the finish... like a wit that is that is too big for it's britches.

I loved this beer when it first came out, and then pretty much hated it for a while now. This is Deschutes' first bottled Belgian style; I gave it the benefit of the doubt... Tonight, I am glad I still have more in the cellar... but what it really makes me think is, 19th Anniversary is the training wheel release for the 20th and the Dissident. I can't wait for both. Deschutes has the PNW mastered... now the rest of the world is ripe for conquest.

Thanks to flexabull for this one.

A - Pours a slightly hazy golden with a soapy white head and sticky lacing.

S - Grassy herbal hops with a corn like bready maltiness. Hints of alcohol and tropical fruits.

T - Spicy herbal hops with some tropical fruit and bready corn maltiness.

M - On the thick side of medium and a bit sticky with a touch of hot alcohol.

D - Congrats to Deschutes on 19 years. I can't wait to try more of their beers.

Reviewed at the 2007 Strong Ale Festival

A- Clear, dark orange hue, white thin layer of head , slight lacing

S- Dominant banana tones, cotton candy, citrus, green apples, subtle alcohol

T- Taste is surprisingly light and fruity, bread malts, belgian candy, cherries, banana liquer, dry finish, underwhelming for the style

M- Light-bodied, watery texture, low carbonation

D- Easy-drinking, but underwhelming and unbalanced, tastes like amped-up Hefe, the finish is a bit off-putting

Poured into a Duvel tulip. 3 finger off white head above an apple-juice colored body. Tiny yeast particles float around in suspension. Nice Belgian-type lacing.

Smells fruity with apple and banana notes, along with a spiciness and a hint of booziness.

Taste is sweet and spicy with apple and pear, a hint of banana, lots of yeast, and a hop bitterness in the finish that sets this apart from the traditional Belgian style. Interesting and delicious.

Body is pretty thick and rich, almost luxurious. Carbonation is appropriate.

The sweetness here makes it pretty easy to drink but it suffers from the booziness. A solid American try at the BSPA style.

I was served from a 22 ounce capped bottle into a pint glass.

A: A gentile pour produced a clear yellow body accented by copper hues and a modest half finger off-white head composed of small bubbles. The head fell fast leaving a lingering collar that barely supported any lacing.

S: It produced aromas of lightly roasted sweet malts, yeast and piny hops.

T: I detected the flavor of apples and pears, almonds and white bread early in the swig. These were followed by piny and citrusy (lemons) flavors. All of the flavors were somewhat muted and did not establish a strong profile.

M: It had a light body with a smooth presence and balanced carbonation. The aftertaste was dry, warm with a hint of sourness that lingered.

D: I could easy drink between on and three in a session. It is an easy brew to enjoy but lacks the distinctive character of a top of the class BSPA. Nice brew but not world class.