Deschutes River Ale
Here’s one that’s clean and refreshing enough for the long haul, but fully graced with hop aroma, malt heft and clear craft passion. Sit back, relax, and let the subtle pleasures reveal.
3.2
244 reviews
Bend, United States
Community reviews
Pours a hazy yellow on tap with fluffy white head that leaves moderate lace. Aroma and taste of resinous grassy and citrus hops, slight bready grain. Really more of a session IPA to me than golden ale.
Ale.
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From a bottle poured in an English Pint glass - someone left this at my house after a party. Thin dry beer with considerable hoppiness. Not a hop bomb, but not enough depth of flavor to accompany the hops. One note. An "IPA Lite". I would call this a Session Ale rather than a Golden Ale/Blond since it pours more Bronze than Gold and is low ABV.
Clear golden in color... Aroma of light hops, honey, citrus, grains... Flavor is earthy and light caramel notes, gentle citrus hops... Solid and sessionable
By Deschutes standards, a decent beer but nothing exceptional. Bready and crisp at the end. Nice clean finish.
Very little to none hop aroma. Clear copper with very small head that dissapears in a jiffy. Light, refreshing, balanced well but missing hops. Little grassy aftertaste. Instead of making good summer beer Deschutes went Blue Moon route. Dissapointing.
Served on tap. Pored golden amber, medium thin head up front but didn't last. Slight grassy aroma, some fruitiness. Easy to drink, mild hops, fruit taste was more pitted fruit than citrus. Lacing evident but minimal. Overall very good, this beer does exactly what it is meant to do for a blonde ale.
It’s okay a good easy drinking sessions beer. Pours a nice clear golden plenty of bubbles slight head.
Poured from bottle into a pint glass
Appearance – The beer pours a clear golden amber color with a big billowy white head. The head fades rather fast, leaving a light level of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma of the brew is rather strong of a bready and yeasty smell mixed with a rather lighter citrus and apricot smell. Along with these aromas comes some lighter notes of a hay and grassy smell.
Taste – The taste begins with a slightly cracker like taste mixed with a bit of yeast. Right from the start there is also very light hay and grassy taste, which create a nice hop base for the taste for the brew. As the taste advances a lighter grapefruit and grassy hop as well as a little bit of a lemon taste come to the tongue. With a hint of pine at the very end, one is left with a somewhat drier cracker malt and lighter soured citrus taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is rather light and thin with a carbonation level that is on the higher side. For the lighter abv., the bit of sourness, and the drier tastes the feel is rather nice and makes for a more refreshing and crisp brew overall.
Overall- A rather easy drinking ale with a little bit of sourness and hop flavor, keeping it lively, but not overwhelming. Not a bad one to go to on a warm summer day as a nice session brew.
Not certain, but I may have gotten a bad bottle. The aroma is simply off putting. Decent head. Taste isn’t horrible. Just, I expect more from this brewery.
On tap, poured into a plastic cup at Deschutes Street Pub Chicago. The aroma is a muted caramel with a touch of citrus and a prevalent grassiness. By mid cup, the sweet citrus aroma strengthens. It pours a clear amber orange topped by a dense white foam that has a mild retention and lace, The taste is a nicely balanced medium light citrus and grain bittersweet. It’s a watery thin texture with a fizzy carbonation and a light body. Flavors of bread and muted caramel are dominant with a citrus undertone. It finishes crisp with a citrus zest leaving an aftertaste of bread crust and caramel. It’s lightly cloying and a bit sticky, but overall, a nice malt forward session ale
This is the Goldilocks of ales. It’s not too hoppy, not too malty, but just right. It’s increadibly drinkable and I am always amazed how quickly I finish the glass.
Bottle from mixed twelve pack...pretty mellow on flavor...a little malt some yeast and a splash of hops...very sessionable...not bad at all...
This pours a really cool orangish color with not much head. Perfect amount of hops for me...not much into hoppy beers. Great taste, a keeper and maybe the best beer with major hops I’ve had.
Leo’s Hartwell bottle(26-Jul-2014)Light citrus herb aroma.Amber,low head&suds lace.Herbal citrus veg flavour.Herbal citrus finish&herbal light celery aftertaste.
Hop spice aroma. Murky Amber course fair head and lacing. Malt herbal sour flavour. Flat palate.
Bottle from Wine and Cheese Place. Aroma is mild and of piney hops and yeasty dough. Appearance is clear gold without sparkle and 1 finger-width off-white bubbly head with fair retention and nice lacing. Taste is mild sweet fruit and mild bitter. Palate is light bodied with thin texture, pretty flat carbonation and pretty dry mildly bitter finish. Overall, a pretty average beer. Not offensive by any means but not terribly flavorful, nor noteworthy for aroma, appearance or palate.
On tap at the Portland brewpub. Pours transpent amber with a white head. Aroma of pale and light caramel malts, light floral notes, and dough. Flavor the same. Average texture. Pretty bland.
Pours a cloudy amber orange color with a light foamy head. The smell is a bit a wine smell but id have to say a floral hop scent. Taste is very smooth and very well blended with a soft carbonation and very little dry aftertaste. Very good beer, highly recommended, don’t pass it up.
On tap at GB Fish and Chips. Pleasant aroma of citrus hops and pale malts (toasted grain, cereal, bread). Similar flavor with a light body. Easy to drink.
Bottle into IPA glass. Pours a clear copper colour with a small white head. Aroma is citrusy hops. Taste is citrusy hops as well but lacks a bit of mouth feel. Pretty good session beer.
Pours a hazy golden color with a medium sized fluffy white head that left some good lacing around the glass. The aroma is citrus, hoppy, slight pine, and slight sweetness. The taste is citrusy and some hops but they are quite mild. The mouthfeel is light and the drinkability is high.
Decent amount of flavor and hop presence for a blond ale. Easy drinking and enjoyable.
Pours a clear, deep, gold; small/medium white head with very little lacing. Hoppy aroma with floral/grassy notes. Taste is light, a little bitter and just a pinch sweet. Light bodied with a slightly oily mouthfeel. Finishes fairly clean with a moderately lingering bitterness. Overall, a satisfying ale. Lacked any wow factor but a good everyday, any situation beer.
4% ABV. American Pale Ale.
White soapy head. What I commonly refer to as a barman’s head.
Nose is malty. Not getting much in the way of aroma hops coming of the head.
Has a nice malty body and the palate is pleasantly stroked by bubbles and then gently scrubbed by a trace of hops. The one thing I notice most about my journey through a pint of River Ale is the volume...I catch myself thinking "Man, when is this beer going to end?"
Good for thirst-quenching and re-hydration, not so much for enjoying the fruit of a dedicated, devious son-of-a-bitch of a brewmaster’s labor. I’m sorry Deschutes, we already have an award winning local laager, it’s called Tiger.
This was a delicious blond ale. Aroma was nice. Very yeasty with some light malt. Pour was a nice hazy medium light gold with a one finger white head. Taste was light and refreshing but with good flavor. The light malt was perfectly balance with a mild hop bite to balance it out. Nice carbonation. Great summer sipper.
Nice copper color, aroma is light with a hint of malt sweetness. On taste, you can pick up a hint of hops, but not much. Light to medium bodies beer.
Near clear dark gold pour with a two finger, creamy white head that has great retention and leaves nice lacing. Aroma is soft fruity esters, light citrus, light mineral, caramel, buttered bread and a little toffee. Favor is mineral, sweet citrus, caramel, sweet fruity esters, light passion fruit and a hint of grapefruit to the finish. Light body, crisp to slightly chalky, medium, somewhat sharp carbonation. Tasty stuff, lots of depth in flavor for the ABV%, still suffers a bit from the buttery notes in many Golden Ales.
Bottle at home. Amber pour. Fizzy carbonation. Aroma has grapefruit, apple, earth. Very light bodied, Savory, grainy malt underneath. Fruity hop profile with apricot and pine. Underlying yeasty notes, almost Belgian-ish. Super clean and crisp finish. Nothing to it, but I kind of like how it comes together.
Pours coppery orange with a small white head. Smells fruity, citrus, hints of caramel. Taste is bitter, citrusy, hints of pine. Medium-bodied with a wet texture and average mouth-carbonation, Deschutes River Ale finishes with a smooth, lingering bitterness.