Thanks to todd_beer on Flickr for the photo

How many of you got excited when you saw the word “Dissident”? I know I sure did when I saw the press release come across this morning. Don’t get me wrong, Hop in the Dark and Black Butte XXII are exciting releases as well, but Deschutes Dissident has only been released once in the past and it was a huge hit for the Bend, Oregon brewery. Dissident is Deschutes’ only distributed sour/wild yeast beer, and it is very impressive take on a Flanders-style brown ale, especially for a brewery that had never released a sour beer previously. The initial release was in August of 2008, and fans have been wondering when they will see more of it ever since. Keep your eyes open this September. If you did not get to try the first batch, you are in for a treat if you enjoy sour ales.

Here is information on all three of these special releases:

Hop in the Dark Cascadian Dark Ale
When: Available May – September 2010
What: Bond Street Series (22-ounce bottles and draft)
What takes 22 brews and more than a year of experiments to reach perfection? Deschutes Brewery’s newest Bond Street Series release: Hop in the Dark Cascadian Dark Ale (C.D.A.). C.D.A. is a new style of beer that emerged recently in the Pacific Northwest, more widely known as a Black I.P.A. There has been a significant movement and debate in the region to call the style C.D.A., and Deschutes Brewery leads the way with Hop in the Dark.

This ominous looking liquid combines prominent Northwest hops with roasted malts to create a black tinted India Pale Ale type beer. Hop in the Dark aromas come from Cascade, Amarillo, Citra and Centennial hops that float over a gentle undercurrent of velvet malt complexities.

Deschutes Brewery invites beer lovers to take the plunge – a hop, if you will – into this new Dark Cascadian Ale.

Where: Available in all 15 states where Deschutes is sold
Beer Geek Information:
6.5% Alcohol by Volume (ABV)
70 International Bittering Units (IBUs)

Black Butte XXII
When: June 27th
What: Reserve Series (22-ounce wax-dipped bottles and draft)

First brewed to celebrate our 20th anniversary, our extreme cousin of Black Butte Porter is back for a third performance in 2010. Generation XXII melds cocoa nibs, dark chocolate, orange peel, and chilies all aged in bourbon barrels to create a masterpiece of creative brewer whimsy. Released on Deschutes Brewery’s anniversary, this beer will help us celebrate at the parties we are holding in Bend and Portland (see below).

Where: Available in all 15 states where Deschutes is sold
Beer Geek Information:
11% Alcohol by Volume (ABV)

The Dissident
When: September
What: Reserve Series (22-ounce wax-dipped bottles and draft)

Eighteen months in isolation, The Dissident is a distinctive Flanders-style brown ale, with a fruity aroma and flavor. Our only wild yeast beer, brettanomyces and lactobacillus impart its characteristic sour taste. Lavished with whole western Washington cherries – pits, stems and all – (which, by the way, our brewmaster picks out personally during family vacations, to the tune of much eye-rolling from his children). It’s our wildest, most expensively pampered beer.

Where: Available in all 15 states where Deschutes is sold
Beer Geek Information:
9% Alcohol by Volume (ABV)