Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Cleveland, Ohio USA

brewtopia 10/21/06. This is a pretty decent session pale ale. Aroma is citrus and malt, taste is grapefruit/citrus hops, lightly bitter with a good malt balance.

Orange in my three stooges glass. Bitter hoppyness. Not real impressed with the medicine like flavor and I’m not sure how this gets into the 94th percentile. Bitter lingering finish and aftertaste. I guess american pale ale is not my fave. This was in the variety pack, otherwise I would not have purchased separately, and yes it does taste like it is as bitter as 65 IBUs. Overated, will not buy again.

bottle. Pours a solid copper, nice shade for the style, white a fair white head. Good hop profile in the nose with a bit of toffee to balance. I think the APA style is dangerous to make constant explorations in, but every now and then I find some stellar beers in the category. This one is not quite to that level, but it does go beyond just being a refreshment. It achieves very nice balance all around with a bright, fairly well defined hoppiness and a honey/sweet tea character. This is a very good representation of the style.

From a sixer purchased at Sam’s Chicago - Aug 2006. Pretty clear copper with a white head. Citrusy/pine hops nose with some toffee. Very well-balanced with notes of caramel intertwined with grapefruit/tangerine and a hint of pine. Moderately sweet with a pleasant APA hoppy finish (non harsh). Medium bodied with a smooth texture and moderate carbonation.A very quaffable, classic American Pale Ale.

A great session beer. A very floral front end with a piney back end. Overall, a very well balanced, hopped, beer. 848416 --- Re-rate 3/16/2008 Aroma is citrus and some cooked vegetable. Taste is grainy, grapefruit/lemon rind, and cardboard biscuit. Okay, but has a few flaws. 636414

Pretty good APA. Starting to become more popular in the area. I have found it on tap at a couple of different local bars. Very good hop appeal. Even my wife enjoys this APA. One of my favorites.

Bottle courtesy of LeopoldStoch. This is a solid APA. Nice amber color. Good malt backing and an amazingly smooth hop character. Very clean tasting APA. Good stuff.

Amazing malt mixture with a nice full bodied hoppiness. It says subtle in the description but there’s really nothing subtle about the full bodied pine taste. A superb example of the style. Sweet Amber colouring with a lacey head.