Fitgers Starfire Pale Ale

Brewed by Fitgers Brewhouse
Style: American Pale Ale
Duluth, Minnesota USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tulip

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On the hoppy end of things, good complexity, cuts spicy food well but leaves its own little tingle. Piney. Plain golden color. (on tap at brewpub)

A light orange color. Bitter, herbal hop flavor. Some citrus. Simple and good.

On tap at the Fitgers Brewhouse in Duluth, MN, pours a hazy golden amber brew with a minimal white head that diminishes to a fine film and slick lacing. Aroma of sweet honey, citrus peel, and powdered sugar. Taste is medium body, some sour citrus, and a grassy pine bitterness. Finish is dry with a slight citrus aftertaste.

On tap at the Fitgers Brewhouse in Duluth, MN. SWEET ORANGE HOP ON A HAZY DARK ORANGE BODY. SWEET ORANGE HOP BODY.

citrus, brown, amber, hazy, aminimal head, white foam, medium sweetness, medium bitterness, medium body, creamy, average carbonation,

Dark amber colored and brisk. Lemon hops, oranges in the aroma. Biting, spritzy aerosol flavor, crystal malt, powerful sugar-glazed grapefruit. Uninvitingly metallic mouthfeel and not enough nuance to this one.

I loved this beer! Excellent hop aroma with a strong cascade nose. Bitterness was perfectly balanced. Perhaps the only weak point was the mouthfeel was slightly weak in the draft pour. I tried both the draft pour and the cask pour. The cask pour was slightly hazy while the draft was not. An excellent American Pale Ale and makes a great staple.

Clear gold with good while lacing. Strong floral burst. Sweet hops grapefruit flavors. Tart. Finishes strongly bitter. Light wheat and fruit smack in the background. Average.

Sample at the brewpub, keg. Light orange hue with a hint of haziness and wispy white head...grapefruity, lightly herbal nose is assertive, if simple...massive citrusy sourness initially almost overwhelms, but the caramel underpinning keeps the flavors balanced...anise and rosemary appear in the very wet body, which is full but could be a bit more robust to keep up with all that’s happening in the flavors.

On-cask at the brewpub: Light golden peach and a medium capped off-whitish head to boot, lacing in lots of strings and keeps a puffy skim on top the whole glass down. Wow! Holy pine sap and needles soaked in oranges. Super powerful aroma. Nearly reaches out of the glass at ya. Clean, crisp, and hop loaded. After my first wiffs I just had to ask the server if they knew for sure if this was suppose to be just a pale ale and not an IPA or a double something. No one had the answer, not even the bartender. Apparently it just was put on today. Ah, but as soon as it went through the lips, my hopes of a hoplovers dream all but faded into a waking moment of disappointment. Where’s the hop palate, jeez, the nose promised so much but the taste does nothing to compromise my now watering tongue. Hop tones of pine resin, floral freshness, and juiced orange and yellow grapefruit all make a fleetingly small appearance. Reminds of the Skyline Imperial Pale with lesser girth on the hop scale; alot less. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good, but after that nose full of hops, it was a big let down for me, so the mark comes down some in my book I’m afraid. The other quality to Skyline this has is the warming feel it has, which I figure is due to the cask. Which is one thing I’ve found common among the cask brews at Fitger’s is they all have tremendous warming capabilities. This does not differ. Warm! The feel here is also a little wearysome, somewhat empty and thin, displaced medium to light body, it seems to stuggle to find its way. One thing it does have, is again, the whole warming thing. Above and beyond in the nose arena but falls short after that as the ride goes due south into where I find myself saying its approachable and drinakble, but some improving, perhaps some aging, or a longer session of hopping, something, anything, to make that nose come through into the rest its character and this would be killer stuff.