Two articles to point to this time around. First up, my piece in today’s issue of The Bulletin, on the return of Deschutes Brewery’s Twilight Summer Ale. Last brewed in 2015, Twilight was discontinued in 2016 in favor of the new Hop Slice Summer Ale. Fan support brought it back, and Deschutes sent me a bottle recently which I review in the article.

It looks the same — a brilliantly clear golden orange color with great lacy foam. The aroma is hop-­forward, tending toward the lemony, with a grassy and herbal character that reminds me of lemon verbena leaves. There is a touch of cattiness (similar to the pungent scent emitted by tomato plants) and citrus zest that accentuate the mildly sweet malts.

The flavor emphasizes the malt with a pleasant biscuit quality. The hops are relatively mild, offering up a fresh green herbal note with a kiss of sweet lemon at the back. Overall the body is crisp and on the lighter side with a clean finish. My final impression returns to lemon, which perhaps evokes the memory of Hop Slice.

I’m curious to hear what others think.

And next up, I will point you a piece I have in this month’s Oregon Beer Growler: North Rim’s Closure Leads to Other Brewers’ Opportunities. It’s a bit of backstory to Bend’s North Rim Brewing, which closed in January, and how its closure ended up benefiting both Bend Brewing Company and Kobold Brewing here in Central Oregon.

The business, incorporated in 2013, sold its first beer in May 2014 and since that time had gone through a number of ownership and personnel changes.

The brewery was founded by partners Bruce Stevens and Shane Neilsen, construction contractors with ambitious plans that included a 10-barrel brewhouse with three 30-barrel fermenters. By mid-2015, Neilsen, the brewer, left the company; at the time, Bend’s newspaper “The Bulletin” wrote, “Stevens said he knows now how complex beer and business are together, and why his business partner went back to painting and drywall.”

Several other brewers followed, but ultimately North Rim failed to gain much traction despite a big effort to capitalize on the 2017 solar eclipse. The brewery was still selling discounted beer up through the end of the year, but ultimately several financial missteps led to its closure in January.

Good reminder that running a brewery is still a business, and closures happen.