Twilight Summer Ale - Deschutes Brewery

yodagruv

Texas

3.94/5  rDev +6.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

A: clear golden, off white moderate, lacy, somewhat clingy head.

S: orange peel, malt

T: Citrusy, slightly bitter, somewhat malty, some hoppiness

M: clean and slightly carbonated, rather like a carbonated iced tea.

O: Not bad- clear, light, drinkable and pleasant. Smells better than it tastes, which is too bad, but just barely.

Serving type: bottle

05-19-2013 04:19:42 | More by yodagruv

lacqueredmouse

Australia

3.99/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

12oz bottle purchased from Whole Foods in SoMa, San Francisco.

Pours a pleasant faintly hazed golden orange, with a frothed, but slightly filmy head of white. Colour is gorgeous though, and there's a surprisingly pleasant weight to the body, leaving fine carbonation when tilted. Overall, it's a pretty nice-looking beer.

Nose is biting with hops, with a very fresh, green character coming through strongly. There's a slightly rubbery tone to it as well: perhaps more of an intensity that accentuates the hop characters. Under this are characters of orange, peach and pepper, but very little sweetness or malt. I'm interested to see how it tastes.

As it happens, the taste is really quite light, but it's also quite pleasant. The hops are also pared back, leaving some fresh vegetative and fruity tones to the palate, but providing no real bitterness. There's a slight mild acid character that forms towards the back of the palate, while the peach and orange characters evanesce on the front. There's also a faint yeasty tone which is the only drawback, but after the first couple of sips, its influence is negligible. Overall, it's very pleasant.

Feel is light, but clear and clean, with a pleasant smoothness.

Overall, this is a very drinkable beer. I could certainly see myself drinking this as part of a very enjoyable session. Were it available in Australia, it would make a pretty damn impeccable beach BBQ beer. Alas.

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2013 00:07:35 | More by lacqueredmouse

Fatehunter

Oregon

3.35/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Thin head. With an almost clear, medium straw colored body.
Smells like wheat and roses. Interesting and unexpected.
Mild taste of honey, mild bitterness and a touch of sweetness.
Fizzy texture, moderate carbonation and medium body.
A fine enough drink.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2012 05:57:35 | More by Fatehunter

MisterNic

Wyoming

2.58/5  rDev -30.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

A - Pours a golden orange color with a two-finger white head.

S - Aroma is sweet and malty with citrus and pineapple notes.

T - Taste is sweet tropical fruit (mango especially). It has a moderate bitterness and a nice malt character

M - Mouthfeel seems a bit thin. Doesn't do much for me.

O - Overall, this is a less-than-average pale ale.

Serving type: bottle

12-17-2012 16:21:28 | More by MisterNic

micromaniac129

Pennsylvania

3.73/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This beer has a nice orange amber hue with fair carbonation. A light thin foamy head sits on top. Aroma find some citrusy hop bouquet and malts, but quiet light on the nose. To me the flavor was very light on the palette with hops balancing malts nicely. But the flavor is weak and light like a light, say an light APA. There are no faults that I can detect. A desent all purpose beer.

Serving type: bottle

11-10-2012 00:08:05 | More by micromaniac129

Vashtar

Texas

3.85/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance is foggy and pale yellow, but the head retention is good and it laces nicely.

The smell is hoppy and earthy. It's nice, but it's very wheat.

It has a fruity, yeast taste. It's pleasing, happy, and drinkable.

The mouthfeel is smooth and like velvet. Consistant

Overall, it's a nice, drinkable beer, but it becomes a bit monotonous, and I wouldn't want more than one at a time.

Serving type: bottle

10-31-2012 01:17:59 | More by Vashtar

DrDemento456

Pennsylvania

3.83/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A very good summer ale even 4 months late. Pours a golden bright orange with a 1/2 inch of head. Lacing ring sticks around though out the entire beer. Smell is mild but consists of hoppy citrus and grapefruit twang with a mild yeasty sweet balance.

Taste is simple with hops shining though (as crisp as ever) with matching fruity yeast and a mild walnut taste. Mouth feel is kind of on the heavy side delivering a light medium feel which might hurt session ability.

Overall this beer was well worth the mix in match price. These guys really know how to make good beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-18-2012 01:46:37 | More by DrDemento456

Mosstrooper

California

3.78/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from 12oz bottle into Guinness tulip pint glass.

Appearance: Slightly hazy blonde color with a creamy, medium-sized white head that dissipates quickly and leaves behind some large spots of lace.

Smell: Citrus and floral aromas backed up by nuttiness.

Taste: Starts of with toasty flavors, rounding out to citrus and finishing with a mild earthiness.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body with sharp carbonation and a watery, refreshing finish.

Overall: A flavorful, easy-drinking beer. This is very refreshing, I can definitely see how this fits well as a summer beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-13-2012 00:23:25 | More by Mosstrooper

portia99

Massachusetts

3.55/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle (best by 9/12/12) courtesy of Wasatch...thanks John! Poured into a Dogfish Head signature glass.

A - Pours a hazy orangey golden color with a thin finger of fluffy white head that lingers briefly and falls to leave an uneven collar and sparse lacing on the glass.

S - Yeasty, bready malt up front with light citrusy hops on top. Overall fruity in aroma and balanced well between malt and hops.

T - Nice balance here too...a low bitterness throughout with sweet, caramel, yeasty bread malt flavors. Fruity, citrusy, mild yeasty esters. Smooth.

M - Medium body with a mid-level carbonation that gives a good fizzy tingle on the tongue. Lower level bitterness and excellent balance...very smooth - definitely an easy drinker.

O - Overall a good, light and crisp summer beer...easy drinking but with plenty of flavor too. Another fine brew from Deschutes...glad to have tried this one.

Serving type: bottle

10-05-2012 22:45:30 | More by portia99

Megahertz

Missouri

3.75/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle into a French Jelly glass. Best by 12/13/12.

A - Deep gold to light amber, slightly hazy, with a massive pillowy white head.

S - Faint orange rind and fresh grass with considerable toasted bread maltiness.

T - Malt-forward with toasted bread and biscuit transitioning into clean orangey hop flavor. Finish is faintly sweet.

M - Medium body with mild carbonation.

O - A good all around summer brew.

Serving type: bottle

10-05-2012 20:18:25 | More by Megahertz

brystmar

New York

3.55/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thanks to Erik for the extra!

Golden orange pour produces plenty of white head. Tame aroma hints of your typical malt-centric summer ale. Beers that smell like this have serious potential to be boring...

Taste saves the day as creamy malted grains brush up against a lightly hopped backbone. Mildly bitter after you swallow. Clearly well-crafted. Refreshing, sessionable, and tasty. What more could you ask for from a 6-pack in the summer?

Serving type: bottle

09-28-2012 23:52:21 | More by brystmar

Nugganooch

California

3.9/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle to standard pint
BB date of 11/22/12

A: Burnished straw gold. Has a soft glow from the light hazing. Very effervescent with a lively finger of near white head. Nice hang time, leaves some light cling down the glass.

S: Smells of ripened peach and apricot met with some zesty orange. There is a bit of a grainy cereal aroma midway with a kick of tartly spiced yeast. Has a real nice zest quality to it with some lesser floral aromas. Picking up a bit of grapefruit-lime action as well.

T: Taste is firm with lemon, tangerine, and coriander. I get supporting notes of grapefruit and orange towed by a touch of sappy pine. Light florals and more spice. Bitterness level is on the upper-moderate side. Malt is grainy and imparts some biscuit with more of a sourdough-like twang from the tart yeast esters. There is just a kiss of caramel sweetness and a light warming from the alcohol. Otherwise light, dry, hoppy, and refreshing.

M: Very light and thin body with a nice dry crisp snap in the finish. Frothy with a nice hop pucker to the palate and some residual oils coaxing the tongue.

D: Highly drinkable, warm weather fare. This is light, hoppy, with a crisp refreshing bite. Probably my favorite “Summer Seasonal” so far. Drinks more like a hoppy APA than say a traditional Blonde. Good PNW hop varieties and just a dash of something different in the grain/yeast character. Would recommend and will look for this one every summer moving forward.

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2012 20:01:43 | More by Nugganooch

draheim

Washington

3.9/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12oz (best by 11/6/2012) into a tulip. Pours a coppery color w/ a 2-finger frothy head.

Aroma is floral NW hops and caramel/pale malts. Mango, apricot and spice notes too. I imagine this might have been more pungent when fresh; my fault for waiting.

Taste is clean and light. Really nice grainy quality. Fruity, just the right bitterness. Mouthwatering.

As expected, mouthfeel is clean, crisp, refreshing. Medium body.

Overall, wish I'd bought more of these when summer started - although around here this year, it was kind of hard to figure out when that was exactly. Very nice, drinkable summer beer.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2012 01:28:46 | More by draheim

beerpadawan

California

3.88/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

A light honey-gold with a very refreshing look to it and a healthy, off-white head.

It is hoppy but not powerfully so in its aroma. Lightly sweet.

The flavor is crisp and the mouthfeel smooth and quaffable. This allows the mild to medium hop flavors and bitterness shine through. It is a nifty combination of American and European hop varieties; I notice cascade type flavors as well as grassy, spicy/green noble type flavors. I guessed the ABV at 4.7 (not that I can identify this with any precision), so to me the flavor of the beer matched its profile before I learned what type of beer it was or its strength. I would say it has a bit more complexity to the hop character than other blonde ales that I can recall at the moment.

I would definitely not be disappointed to find this beer on offer at a BBQ or other sun-laden event.

Serving type: on-tap

09-05-2012 17:11:10 | More by beerpadawan

jdense

Oregon

3.58/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12 oz. bottle purchased as part of Deschutes variety pack :) poured into Dead Guy shaker pint glass after mowing the lawn, 9.3.12.

Hard pour resulted in a bit over a finger white head very small bubbles, well above average lacing over medium gold clear body, multiple streams of grouped bubbles rising from bottom of glass. Significant bready notes in the nose some grassy and light resiny hops. Taste mirrors nose, quite bready ala English Pale Ale, slight bit of resin, floral notes, decent bitterness on back end. Mouthfeel medium, a bit heavy for the style, good effervescence, fairly dry finish. A nice seasonal, but not one I'll go back to by choice.

Serving type: bottle

09-04-2012 00:09:28 | More by jdense

fezmeister

California

3.43/5  rDev -7.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Yellow-gold, average head. Smells more piney than it tastes. Citric hops are present, pretty mellow (which I noticed when comparing with alternating sips of a pale), but balanced with sweet malts that don't cling with plenty of carbonation for a nice summer beer. Nothing special, but an easy summer drinker.

Serving type: bottle

08-29-2012 01:01:58 | More by fezmeister

deaconoflove

Pennsylvania

3.78/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Nice medium golden color. No head, just a little around the edges.
First aroma is general sweetness, but more specifically very mild butterscotch layered over hop citris.
Taste follows with slight butterscotch, soft and tangy at the same time. Mildly bitter finish, very mild.
Feels good, fills you mouth well, carb is good even though no head on the glass.
It's a really nice summer beer, going down way too easy.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2012 20:14:44 | More by deaconoflove

Mdog

Minnesota

3.88/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: Gold, ok head.

Smell: Light citrus, bready.

Taste: Light bready flavor, moderate citrus hops. Tastes like a standard pale ale.

Picked up a single to try. This beer steps a little outside the blonde ale box to be more like a light pale ale. Most blonde ales I've had are bready or corny with a little fruit, this has a little bread but the citrusy hop finish of a mildly hopped pale ale. It's a perfectly fine pale ale, like hundreds of others.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2012 00:26:43 | More by Mdog

corby112

Pennsylvania

3.4/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a clear golden orange color with a one finger white head that quickly settles into a thin ring. Minimal spotty lacing left behind.

Slightly earthy aroma with a balance of floral hops, light fruit and pale malt. Slight spicy and grassy with some resinous pine needle followed by bread, apple and biscuit.

On the lighter end of medium bodied with a crisp hop bite up front that lingers over the sweeter notes and pale malt into a slightly dry finish. Spicy hop flavor provides some dry bitterness that's countered by light fruit, bread and biscuit. Hop presence is stronger than nose suggests but there is some nice sweetness for balance. Hints of grass, straw, apple, pear, bread and biscuit. Well balanced and sessionable.

Serving type: bottle

08-26-2012 23:49:02 | More by corby112

MattyG85

Minnesota

4.33/5  rDev +16.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from 12 oz. bottle into a Sam Adams "Perfect Pint" glass.
Best by 10/23/12.

Appearance: Pours a deep copper golden orange with a lot of rising bubbles. Huge five finger white head with good retention. Lots of lacing is left sticking to the glass.

Smell: A surprisingly vibrant and lively aroma for the style. Big scent of citrus up front with good hints of mango, apricot, orange, lemon, and a little grapefruit. Pale malts and wheat with hints of cracker and biscuit. Also a nice herbal and grassy hop aroma is in the mix. Smells more like an American Pale Ale than a Blond.

Taste: Like it smells, nice citrus esters and bready sweetness balanced by a good hop presence. Taste of citrus up front with notes of mango, orange peel, apricot, lemon, and grapefruit. Solid bready flavors from pale malts and wheat grains. Good notes of cracker and biscuit. A nice bitterness comes from some grassy, herbal hops. Nice full taste for the style.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with a moderate level of carbonation. Crisp, creamy, and pretty smooth.

Overall: A really good summer beer here. This is not your typical Blond Ale. Has enough malt and hop punch in it to seem more like an American Pale Ale. Nice and vibrant while still remaining fairly light and easy drinking.

Serving type: bottle

08-22-2012 05:51:33 | More by MattyG85

TheRealBigC

Nevada

3.48/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Nothing too profound about this one - just a nice, pleasant summer blonde with a solid hop presence and smooth finish. Summer beers are some of my favorite, so I don't know if it stands up among the best, but I can see myself buying a six pack a year.

Serving type: bottle

08-04-2012 01:10:36 | More by TheRealBigC

JuicesFlowing

Kansas

4.18/5  rDev +12.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured into a standard pint glass.

The beer is a nice clear honey gold color. An off-white head recedes to a light bubbly film. Good rings of lacing occur as the beer goes down.

The beer smells sweet and hoppy. A honey glazed over woody pine.

A refreshing taste of sweet floral notes over a more malty, woody base. Lots of sweet apricot in the middle. A bright, hoppy dry finish.

Mouthfeel is dry, bright, and mellow, with enough weight to almost feel creamy.

Overall, a solid clean summer beer. It could be a bit more "airy" and light on the mouthfeel, but still worth a night on the deck as the sun sets.

Serving type: bottle

08-03-2012 03:06:46 | More by JuicesFlowing

zeff80

Missouri

3.88/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Poured out a clear, orange color with a one-finger, khaki colored head of foam. It left thin rings of lace on the glass.

S - It smelled of citrus notes with touches of pine.

T - It tasted very citrusy and bright - mostly orange peel. A light piney bitterness with some grains and sweet caramel.

M - It was crisp, sharp and smooth. A light to medium bodied ale with a dry finish.

O - This is a very tasty and easy drinking summer ale. Nice in the 100 degree temps.

Serving type: bottle

07-30-2012 03:08:03 | More by zeff80

holtlandon

3.43/5  rDev -7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Caramel color with a thin head - The aroma was light and reminded me of Irish soda-bread and citrus. There was a taste of bread and orange citrus, however the orange citrus was light. The hoppiness was distinct, yet understated. The carbonation led to a great mouth-feel and presentation. It had a slight crisp to the palate, and its taste was rich for a blonde. It's very easy to drink, and would go great as a pair with summer fare.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2012 02:26:19 | More by holtlandon

JamesMN

Minnesota

2.53/5  rDev -31.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Appearance: Light caramel hue, pretty translucent.

Aroma: Citrus, mostly orange.

Taste: Bready/malty. A little orange taste and possibly some cloves. Like a slightly watered-down version of Blue Moon.

Mouthfeel: Good level of carbonation but gets harder to drink with every sip.

Final Thoughts: Whenever I hear the term 'Summer Seasonal' I just assume it's going to be on the lighter side, with spices and citrus. That is exactly what Twilight Summer Ale represents. If you're a huge Blue Moon or Shock Top fan then definitely check this one out. For the rest of us, however, there are better options out there for the summer months.

Serving type: bottle

07-21-2012 00:41:00 | More by JamesMN