The Dissident
Deschutes Brewery

22 oz bottle, 2015 vintage, poured into a snifter at 50 degrees F:
L - Brown/Red with an off white head that lingered at the edges of the glass
S - cherries, oak
T - medium funk on the nose, then cherries, and oak with wine tannins on the finish
F - light mouthfeel with medium carbonation
O - complex and interesting beer, very good

 

Purchased at Carwyn Cellars in Thornbury in June 2024. Drunk six months later on New Year's Eve.

This is the 2018 Reserve with cherries and aged in oak.

L: Clear mahogany brown in the glass with a thin, off-white head. The beer gets murkier and more orange-hued when the sediment is poured in. Large bubbles hustle up the glass.

S: The nose is acetic funk, cherry, sour hay and a touch of wood.

T: The taste is tart and acidic, and cherry and balsamic vinegar add further sour overtones that quickly become the dominant note, too much so in my opinion. There's warmth and prickle in my throat, chest and gullet from my mouthful. The finish is long and puckering, but there are retronasal whispers of the oak barrel, vanilla and some solvents once everything has been washed down, especially as the beer warms up. Those last warming notes make the beer far more enjoyable than the initial sips, where waves of sourness washed over my tongue.

M: Carbonation is bright and prickly. The beer's body is thin, perhaps too much for an Oud Bruin.

O: Insert my usual rant about not understanding sour beers and the challenge of trying to rate to style something I'm not enjoying. That said, at first, there was too much acetic sourness and little of the expected complexity. That changed as the beer warmed up and some barrel notes emerged, leading me to revise upwards my taste and overall scores.

Cheers!
#641

 

 

2017 Reserve. Plenty of fruit and very soft. Seven years old and showing well. Nice carbonation, dark cherries in the background. Nicely balanced.

 

 

 

Bottled 7/25/23

I’ve only had variants of The Dissident to date, this is my first time with the base beer. The marionberry and raspberry variants were both really good though, so I have high hopes for the OG. Let’s pop it open and see what’s going on

Pours a cloudy brownish orange with a finger of loose off white head that fades to a thin ring and leaves minimal lacing

The nose is quite sharp, but in no way overbearing. I’m picking up on aromas of black cherry, brown sugar, cherry pit, tart plum, red wine vinegar, toffee, light molasses, and sweet vanilla

Things are a tad smoother in taste, though with a quick hit of sharpness up front. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting black cherry, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, dark bread, brown sugar, toffee, light raisin, and dry oak. The swallow brings notes of black cherry, jammy red wine, sharp oak, brown sugar, cherry pit, old leather, light raisin, and vanilla

A light medium body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a crisp beer. Finishes bone dry and drinks well below its abv

Yeah, the base beer is definitely the best of the 3 I’ve had so far. It drinks remarkably easy

 

 

2016 version.
Leggy white front over hazy garnet; pomegranate, wine barrel, cherry stone and light cheese on the nose; cherry juice, cider, tin, vanilla, winey wood, and cotton candy finish; tart, round, sticky.

4 4.25 4 3.75 4

There’s a good oude bruin in there somewhere but it’s buried under a ton of cherry.
That’s good news for anyone who can’t handle the tartness, but for anyone else, there’s something getting lost. (If it was a Flanders Red, maybe I could see this much fruit…)
There’s some wood and only the vaguest funk after 7 years, and the wine serves to double up those cherries.

Deep and fun in its own way, but just too sweet.

 

 

 

*2019 Reserve with Cherries, 10.5% ABV
Look: A fairly clear and light cherry red with a minimal head that suds up quickly and rapidly dissipates to only a ring of film encircling the beer and leaving no lacing behind
Aroma: I could smell it on the pour. Tart pie cherries, oak barrels, lactic acid notes, ripe dark (Bing, etc.) cherries, wood tannins reminiscent of a Cabernet Sauvignon or similar red wine, and wafts of some funky barnyard-like notes
Taste: Ripe dark cherries hit the palate first as layers of woody oak quickly join in the mingle with the cherry. For a split second those notes hold before the quickly building acidity crescendos and as it does, wet straw, some leather, and barnyard notes become evident and hold center stage until cherries reclaim the spotlight and lead to a very tart, spritzy, and acidic finish with zero detectable alcohol heat
Mouthfeel: Light but full, very clean throughout, looks low but drinks like it’s medium to highly carbonated, and wonderfully dry on the finish
Overall: Wow, this is straight up blowing my mind right now and in a very good way. My sister-in-law gifted this gem to me for my b-day and I’d only had it one other time in my life – 2008, when these folks first made it and my palate being much more developed now, I can appreciate how good it is. It’s like a fine, bold red wine meets tart and dark cherry juice, meets Orval – super complex, lots of cherry and oak, some funk, spritzy like a champagne (though not that much so), and absolutely no way to tell that it’s 10.5% ABV. Phenomenal and highly recommended for any Oud Bruin fan out there

This is a 2016. Five full years in the cellar have worked magic with this exceptional ale. Too bad I don’t have a fresh one right now to try it against - the difference is phenomenal. Super smooth and mellow, much less sour but a bit more funky, more juicy dark fruit.

A 1 pint 6 fl. oz. waxed bomber, 2015 Reserve, with a best after date of 30th October 2016. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.

Appearance: A mostly clear amber brown colour with a one finger beige head that had decent retention and left some nice lacing.

Aroma: Tart, cherry, vinous, light acetone, oak, caramel notes, and a touch of vinegar.

Taste: Lightly sour and tart, cherry, red grape, plum, vinous, oak, caramel, light boozy.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

Overall: ABV was higher than expected, although the waxed bottle probably should have hinted in that direction. There was a slight boozy feel, but despite that it was still smooth, enjoyable and easy to drink.

Four year old bottle.

Nearly flat beer, murky brownish color.

Wonderful nose: moderately sour, with tons of oak, vinegar, tannins, lemon, and cherry.

Flavor follows, although it shows the age and oxidation much more than the nose (surprising, perhaps, given that part of the mystique around a wax cap is that it should help prevent oxidation). Flavor profile is otherwise the same as the nose, along with notes of peach and leather.

Unbelievably drinkable for the high ABV; it drinks like a sour at 50-75% of the ABV.