Etna Classic Gold

Brewed by Etna Brewing Co.
Style: American Pale Ale
Etna, California USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker

Bottle curtesy of KrausenJockey, pours decent copper color with thin off white head. The nose is bready malt and a touch of hop. The flavor is the same, with more malt than hop. Noce on a 95 degree late Summer day. I didn’t think I’d like it, but was pleasantly surprised.

Mild hop and tea nose. Soft and floral palate with a slight touch of ripe fruit. Strange acidic finish.

From a six pack puirchased at local COOP. After the first bottle I realized I have five more bottles that I would have pawn off on someone else who thinks Budweiser is a good beer. Poured nice attractive gold color but things went downhill from there. Nose kind of moldy, with a faint hop odor and not much else. Mouthfeel was not notable, and flavor was somewhat sweet with a slightly bitter finish that was just plain odd tasting. To be hoiest I had trouble with this one, and just have to say it was not something I would buy again.

Almost grassy aroma for hop, not really citrus. Amber gold color, and the head disappeared rapidly. I can’t even assign anything to the start, but the finish was a spritely hop bitterness. Astringent finish. Damn refreshing. Not much for a hop head, but good. Beats the s--- out of Budweiser.

This has got to be one of the most unsuitably boring beers that I have ever tried. Musty grassy hop aroma that is very light and faint with just the slightest sweet cereal malt flavor. Very bland.

good golden color,small white head that faded slowly leaving little behind.The aroma was fruity with a slight malt appearance and some faint hops but there hard to pin down.The flavor was sweet fruit and mild malt with a hint of hops towards the end.Not a real eventful brew but it does have a certain thirst quenching quality if you can get past some of the sweetness that is going on in the brew.It’s worth trying again ---Maybe.

31-Oct-05 (22 oz bottle: $3.39 at Liquor Barn in Redding, CA) I mistakenly purchased a second bottle of this beer, so I might as well give it another shot, and maybe the larger format bottle will help because my tasting of this beer a few months ago was less than pleasant. Expecting more swill, I’m quite surprised and happy that this beer tastes considerably better this time around. I mean, wow, this isn’t bad at all. All that fruitiness I tasted before...there’s none of that with this bottle. Instead, this is a grainy, lightly sweet, and slightly smoky beer with a mild but balancing hop bitterness. The nose is mostly just grainy, but again, no fruitiness. And finally, like last time, good carbonation, medium body, dark golden color and tall, long-lasting off-white head. Still not a great beer, but it’s certainly better this time around and at least passable.

23-Aug-05 (12 oz bottle: Cask & Flask in McKinleyville, CA) Very, very fruity nose shows a bit of light spice when first poured, but that fades after a few minutes, leaving just that dominant fruitiness to trample any other aroma that might have designs on joining the party. Similarly, the flavor is very fruity, but there’s a moderate bitterness in the finish that, while giving me something else, anything else, to taste beside fruity esters, the bitterness is a bit less than pleasant, so the added dimension to the flavor isn’t all good news. Body is medium, and carbonation is good, but the bitter finish is a bit astringent. Dark gold color is also a bit hazy. Probably the best part of this beer is the tall, off-white head and the excellent retention it displays. I’m basically finished with this glass, and yet there’s still a quarter-inch of head left. And lacing is also impressive, with a pretty doily left on the glass. But otherwise, this is too flawed a beer to rate very highly. (6, 4, 4, 3, 9, total: 2.6)

Hazy gold, small white head. Some toffee like malts in the aroma. Light fruity note, some honey and caramel. Nothing special.