Big Hole Headstrong Pale Ale

Brewed by Madison River Brewing Company
Style: English Pale Ale
Belgrade, Montana USA

A tasty satisfying Pale Ale with a hint of West Coast C-hop aggressiveness. Malt presence is lightly sweet but crisp. Well-crafted in Wellington County, Guelph... average rating is a mishmash of this and previous, inferior production. I really like this one.

This Pale ale pours a dark red with a short lived tan colour head. Sweet and slightly hoppy to the nose, has scents of ripe fruit and spice. First sip is good with a malty first stage and a hoppy bitter end. Slightly sweet with a speck of ripe fruit in the flavour. The finnish has a nice bitter value and leaves a sweet malt flavour.

Nice hoppy aroma, mustiness. Pours a nice copper brown, lingering foamy head. Musty yeast flavours, some citrus. Oily/buttery palate. Drying hop bitterness on the tongue. A solid pint. The profile on the site says 5.2% alcohol but it says 5.7% on the bottle.

650mL bottle from Sammy. Consumed on 6/20/2005. Pours a clear orange-copper color, lightly bubbly with a medium-sized white head, low retention, no lacing. Aroma starts out dry and buttery/papery, with some dry orange-tea notes. Lightly dry earthiness in the background, pretty unimpressive. The flavor starts with a toasted grains and buttercream, though more butter than cream. Bits of vanilla, light honey and grains, with some minerally, earthy yeast. Peppery carbonation is a nuisance, but the flavor does not thin out. Orange-soily hops start to come forth more as it warms. Ready to write this one off, I was, but I put it back in the fridge for later (next day). Next day’s experience was completely different. Letting it warm and obviously, having let it breath, the beer was completely different. The diacetyl butteriness/dry-astrigent graininess was wiped out. In its place was a caramelly sweet, chewy, citrus and floral hopped-ale. Finish was long, hoppy and the texture was wonderfully chewy and satisfying. Strange. I’ll rate it based on the second sampling. Guess it just needs a long time to breath. . . .

(650ml bottle) Pours a small, white frothy head with a highly carbonated, reddish copper. Nose of corn, tin, butter and hops. Flavour is bitter with hops with a level tone of malt. Not bad actually - this is growing on me!

Orange-lime hops mask the oily buttery diacetyl in the nose. Clear dark copper coloured body with thin white head that recedes to ring. Fairly bitter with some orange-lime hop flavours some butterscotch (diacetyl), but not a lot of interesting malt character. Medium-light body is dry with a somewhat watery texture and decent carbonation. Bottle (LCBO - May 2005) sampled with ClarkVV and muzzlehatch.

Aroma:light bitterness,light caramel... Appearance:Redish brown withe a good head... Flavor:Good bitterness and light malt flavor....

Couleur cuivrée à l’apparence filtrée, absence de mousse. Énorme présence de diacetyl en arome, beurre, butterscoth, malt caramel ainsi qu’une touche de houblon typiquement anglais. Axé sur le malt en bouche, simple, de courte durée, faible effervescence, corps semi mince. Un brin d’amertume arrive à la fin pour rapidement passer inaperçu.