Angel City Charlie Parker Pale Ale

Formerly brewed at Angel City Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Los Angeles, California USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tulip

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29-Jan-10 (22-oz bottle: Purchased 30-Dec-09 for $3.49 at Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, CA) This pale ale balances moderately bitter, piney, citrus-rind hoppiness with mildly sweet, toasty malts, but the lightly sweet malt has a distinct husky character and there’s a fair amount of diacetyl as well, especially in the finish. Light-medium in body, average in carbonation, somewhat dry on the palate. Toasty bread crust and buttered toast in the nose with light, grassy hops in the background. Dark-golden in color, clear except for lots of floaties suspended in the beer. The off-white head pours to a quarter inch before settling to a thin ring. Not very good. The great Charlie Parker deserves a better tribute.

Amber color, ok head. Toffee aroma, some fruits, some citrus. Toffee flavor, fruity with some hops.

Nose had no hops, hints of grain. Taste was deplorable, hot, very grainy and tannic, no hop flavor, base was filthy tasting. really a shit beer.

Thanks to Eric for the bomber.. never heard of it! Poured clear, rather urine-y golden with just a fizzy dusting of white head.. this did not look good. The aroma picked up honey and vegetal notes, giving off a rather malt likka-ey feel.. sweet and strong.. no real hop presence to note. The flavor found more honey, buttery notes, and a bit of corn at the core.. strong, sharp alcohol influence and random bitterness laced throughout.. hot finish over some honey sweetness on the finish. Medium-bodied with an ugly feel on the palate.. the carbonation level was alright, but that’s about the best I can say.. sorry Charlie.

From a 22oz bottle,pale, clear, minimal head, lightly bitter, average carbonation.It’s alright I would not go out of my way to get it.

As a jazz maniac I had to have this beer. Bomber poured into a pint glass. First pour is clear gold with an orange tinge but the next is yeasty and opaque. Frothy white head looks to be composed of rather large bubbles, hopefully this won’t detract from the mouthfeel. Aroma isn’t very hoppy, in fact it shares more in common with that of a pilsener or helles lager than a pale ale. The main character is bready, grainy malt with a bit of corn syrupy sweetness. Not getting much hoppiness at all. Flavor is grains and toasted bread with a lightly mineral finish. If they had called it "Herbie Hancock Hellerbock" I wouldn’t have batted an eye upon tasting the beer inside. This has to be an old bottle. Looks like several of the recent reviews are similar. I’ll have to stop by the brewery at some point and rerate a fresh pint. Mouthfeel is standard, not as coarse as I thought it would be initially. Dry and lightly bitter.

650 ml bottle from Holiday in Escondido. Pours a translucent dark gold color with a small white head that soon recedes to a fine film. The aroma is weak with light corn and grassy hops. The flavor is hops forward with good grassy biter hops followed by some creamed corn and a bit of biscuit. The palate is full and malty with prickly carbonation. The finish is long with lingering canned corn. Overall: A very session-able pale ale, a good clean out the garage brew.

Bottle from a liquor store in North Park: Created a thick pillow of head as the liquid appeared as a dense brass color. The aroma is mild and has a decent amount of aromatic hops but what little presence of malts there are, it is quickly related to a malt liquor like aroma or even perhaps a lager of some kind. The flavor is somewhat astringent and strange, but at the same time still taste like beer with a minor notice of sweet and grainy type malt that would be expected in a malt liquor and not in pale ale. In the end this doesn’t match up well with other pales ales being brewed in California or in the rest of the United States, so it makes me ask the question, when is Angel City going to step it up? I do admire the tribute to Charlie Parker since I am a avid jazz lover.

Bottled at Stockholm Beer Festival 2009. Amber color. Sweet toffeish aroma with mild orangey and lemony hops. Sweetish, biscuity, orangey and toffeish flavor with medium bitterness and flowery-orangey hops. A bit too sweet and full bodied for me.