Dominion Sweetwater Pale Ale

Formerly brewed at Old Dominion Brewing Company (Coastal Brewing Co.)
Style: American Pale Ale
Dover, Delaware USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker

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A decent APA. More malty than most, not that that is a bad thing. Overall aroma and flavors are pretty subdued. Quite a bit different than the beer that they brew at the Sweetwater Tavern restaurants. As of early June 2003 no longer available in bottles due to a lawsuit.

Deep copper. Nose has a bit of caramel, some bitterness. Flavor is quite hoppy, but it’s hoppy in a "tasteless bitter" way, instead of some noticeably floral, citric, or interesting way. Some sweetness at the end. Decent.

Not as hoppy as I had hoped. On tap at the Brew Pub in Ashburn, VA. Hoppy aroma. Not much head. Nice malt/hop balance. A pretty decent brew!

I believe this is the beer I should be rating. I had this beer a few years ago in a case purchased from Costco for very cheap, and I found it again in single bottles at Norm's in Vienna, Virginia. The colour was darkish orange with a nice pale head. A mild hoppy smell mixed with acidic fruits such as grapefruit. The taste was fairly mild, but definately reasonable for a pale ale. My only complaint for this beer was that it was a tad watery. Nothing like any of the Saranac beers, but still noticable. A very worthy pale ale, just like most of the beers that come from Dominion! Give this a try, then try some of the other Dominion beers: Tupper's Hop Pocket, New River Pale Ale, the list goes on and on!

Sampled at the brewery. Plenty of hop aromatics, but I think the malt is the more intriguing part of this beer--lots of slightly English style malt and a little bit of estery character make this extremely drinkable.