Pep in Your Step

Beer #213 Saison De Poivre / Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR

I'm getting down to the end of the list of beers sampled on our West Coast excursion, and I've intentionally saved some of the best for last.  An exception to that rule is Green Flash, which I thought was outstanding and I was so excited to visit in person, it was one of the first beers I reviewed.  But besides that, there are some heavy hitters coming up in the line-up.

Tonight's beer is the Saison De Poivre from Deschutes Brewery, which I sampled during a visit to their Portland location.  It poured a gold color with a lingering white head.  You get a light aroma of pepper, and the taste gives a great balance of wheat, malt, fruit esters, and peppery spice.  Great beer for summer, with a nice and enjoyable at 4.6% ABV.  For those of you who didn't take French in high school or have never encountered steak au poivre, "poivre" means pepper, and this beer was brewed with pink peppercorns to give it that spicy bite.  Now you know.

Proof of life from Deschutes

Deschutes doesn't ship east of the Mississippi River, and this beer is only available on draft in their pub for a limited time, so this was definitely a great and somewhat rare beer for me to sample.  If you're in Portland, this is a must visit for a great beer, even if this particular variety isn't on tap.

Thing to Think About Today:
If we have a beer brewed with pepper, the official song of the evening should be brewed with pepper as well.  Or at least, Pepa (and while we're at it, Salt).  Going back to the 80's for this one.... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCadcBR95oU