Etna Classic Gold

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

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker

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.

Bomber poured a clear golden amber with a small lingering ivory head. Aromas of bread, butterscotch, light carmel and light earthiness. Palate was medium bodied and smooth. Flavors of carmel, earthiness and light honey with a smooth malty finish.

Light gold color. Medium to large head. Aroma is fruity and sweet. A medium to light bodied pale ale. Malts are fruity and sweet. Hops are slightly spicy. A light refreshing, fruity and sweet pale ale. Kind of a mild lightweight pale ale. Smooth and light, it would make a good lawnmower beer. It’s a little too sweet. Nice fruity esters. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Bottle. Amber beer with an off-white head. Malty, biscuit and light grass aroma. Light malt and biscuit flavors with earth and mineral notes. Medium-light bodied. Bready/biscuity malt lingers with light earth.

Bottle pours translucent golden, large pancake batter like head, fairly sticky lacing, with plenty o’ carbonation.   Light hops and malt on the nose, very subtle it is.    Maybe a little bit of butter too.   Forwardly sweet, honey, like Alabastor mentioned.   No real hop bite, but minor malts.   Finishes somewhat quickly, with a slightly sweet aftertaste.   This seems like a pale ale bordering on a cross between a lager and a mild.   Not bad, but it doesn’t seem true to the style.   Definitely easy to put back on a hot evening.   Thanks goes out to batkins for the trade!

No aroma. This is a pretty simple session-style beer. Light, but a good fruit to it. Nothing extraordinary, but good.

Clear copper hue. Somewhat syrupy with a mild carbonation. Roasted caramel malts had a hint of nuts and the slightest nip of pine. Hops were grassy, and seemed to have a slightly zingy, "hospital" quality to them. Not bad, but didn’t do much for me.

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)