Berkshire Ale Traditional Pale Ale

Brewed by Berkshire Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
South Deerfield, Massachusetts USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker

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Best pale ale available, perfect companion to a good deli sandwich, just a damn good quality beer.

Draft at Cambridge Commons. Nothing pale about this puppy. Clear amber color, thick beige head, solid lacing. Aroma and taste of butterscotch, nutmeg, chicory. Some residual sugar. Decent.

22oz bottle. Orangey, spiced, and some mild piney hop aromas come through immediately. A bit sweet and not much roastiness in the nose. Mild-moderately hazy copper/amber in color with a nice, frothy off-yellowish head. A bit roasted to start, turning nice and caramel-like in the middle. Nice job on the malts with this beer. Finishes crisp, mildly hoppy, and spicy. A bit of piney hoppiness in the end as well. This is a very well-made APA that is relatively unknown.

Best beer I had last night. Nice copper color. Well balanced with malt and hops. Very good pale ale. On tap. Caramel notes. Enjoyable.

22 oz bomber into a snifter. Best by: 08/28/2012 A - Dark amber body with a red tint. Off-white soapy head. Really solid lacing and retention. S - Sweet caramel malts and english style hops. A bit piney and grassy. T - A bit subdued. Caramel and bready malts with a touch of clean grass. Simple and tasty. Medium body with low carbonation. O - A simple and clean APA. Hops are light but it has a great bready malt backbone.

Barely amber with a compact and creamy beige head. Sprinkles of carbonation. Fresh aroma of doughy malts and pine resin hops and a glimmer of grapefruit rinds. Immediately full and balanced with a thick, doughy, lightly sweet malt base countered by a moderately bitter pine and citric rind hop balance. Bitter aftertaste atop a gently sweet malt backbone. Medium body. Turns soft and creamy with the yeast pour. Remains nicely balanced with a thick malt body and bitter yet unobtrusive hop impact. Finishes smooth, hoppy and doughy with a lingering citric/cookie dough meld and touch of fruity yeast. A great session brew.

Bomber via trade or via me, don’t recall. Shared with my girlfriend pre dinner. Caramel Pour with a nice big head. Nose is really nice and big with a lot of apples for some reason and nice citrus. Taste is sweet and tasty great, really awesome pale.

growler-Small Gathering @my place-pours a retaining tight light tan head and copper/red color. Aroma is soft biscuit/bread-light/medium malt, secondary earthy/slight pine/resin hops. Taste is sweet light/medium malt-biscuit/bread/caramel, secondary spice/pine/resin hops with some bite, bark. Grainy mouth feel. Good carbonation.

Has a cloudy red/amber color with moderate carbonation and a floral/hop smell. Taste is slightly malted sweet and finishes with a refreshing hop bitterness. Overall it tastes somewhat like the IPA, but much better. I enjoyed this beer quite a bit.

2004 bottle at Julio’s Spring Beer Fest, 04/02/05. Dark, muted mahogany, with some lighter yellow-ambers and a tinge of red. Foamy white head is well-retained. Aroma of sweet, nutty malt and light yeast, with soft leafy, juicy hops, a bit of dirtiness, but I dont mind. Doughy and substantial nose continues as you drink. Flavor is sweet and malty, with a caramel and light berry sweetness, soft floral hops and a rich, creamy butter-toffee-meats-fresh-hops finish. As opposed to the usual effect of Berkshire’s beers, which is to start out flavorful and then quickly water down and die out on the finish, this one starts out light but builds up a creamy, doughy body, finishing rich and flavorful, with a wonderful balance of hops and malt. Nothing mind-boggling as far as complexity goes, but just a superb balance and mouthfeel. Medium-full body. Surprised that it is 6.3 abv, I couldnt tell. One of the better beers I had all day. Will certainly buy more of this.