Drakes 1500 Pale Ale

Brewed by Drakes Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
San Leandro, California USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tulip

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12 oz bottle. Hazy orange with a webby white head. Nose is orange, spicy pine and caramel. Foamy and fresh medium body with a soft resiny finish. Taste is citrus honey, eucalyptus, kiwi and spruce. Lovely balance; juicy, easy drinking with exotic hopping. Cool brew.

On tap @ Pleasanton HopYard. Clear, golden ale with white head. Smells good, taste is good - just not enough of it. This would be a great beer to indroduce someone to NorCal Pale Ales, a little lighter and less strong than Sierra Nevada.

Really nice brew. Aroma is strong, but in a good way. Soft hops and light sweet fruits and floral aroma. Appearance is nice golden amber with wispy head that falls quickly and legs are thin. Taste is strong hop resin on tongue that washes back with a good amount of malty grains and bready leather finish. Palate is covered with hops, balanced but forward. Overall really nice. Clean, med body, hopped up and nice. Love it. IPA is well made

3rd October 2011
Hazy orange beer, fluffy off white head. Crisp palate with good bite. Fresh minerally orange peel and marmalade with super fresh yellow grapefruit. A little creamy malt underneath. Nice because it tastes so fresh.

Friesland gedronken samen met dutchdrebus, Ruikt fris, grassig, hoppig, smaakt ook fris

Tap at The Salted Pig. Pours a sparkling, clear lighter orange. Rockier white head. Good lacing. Hoppy, citrusy nose with touches of puppy breath. Taste is very dense, nutty, bitter..heavy in the stomach. Dry, tea like finish.

In short: A clean, restrained, citrusy and slightly piney pale ale. Just another well made generic APA.
How: Bottle 12oz, consumed fresh a week after receiving it from oakbluff, thanks a lot Scott.
The look: Clear golden body topped by small off-white head.
In long: Nose of medium intensity with mostly typical citrus fruits hops and also some pine needles. Taste has a typical semi-toasted cereals with a sweetness flavor that is very much dried fruits (those little dried orange cubes and others). This is not a hop bomb, the citrusy and slightly piney hopping is just enough to balance the beer. Bitterness sensation in the low-medium range. Very clean and drinkable. On one hand I can’t say anything bad about this beer but on the other hand it is not very flavorful and there are so many similar examples that it is becoming increasingly difficult to be excited about a generic clean pale ale like this one. As far as APAs are concerned this one is as surprising as a Rage Against The Machine song where they are angry at something and don’t trust the government.

The beer has a golden color in the glass with a small head. On the nose there is citrus and grass, also a touch of floral notes. Taste has some grapefruit with a some herbs. It has a light body, I would prefer something a little heavier.

Awesome pale ale! Sp hoppy I thought it wa an iPA very deserving, thank you Drakes!

(From notes 9 Nov, 2012) Bottle. White, airy head. Clear golden pour, like a lager. Aroma is a nice, refreshing hops. Flavor is citrusy, no sweetness. High carbonation, much too stingy in the mouth. Finish is a one-dimensional, dry, sharp bitterness of medium length.

Overall, too bubbly and an unpleasant dry bitterness combined with the high carbonation. Certainly there’s a lot of flavor for such a low ABV beer. For example, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is much better. However, as I twirl this around, recuding the bubbles, this gets much better.