Great Northern Frog Hop Fresh Hopped Pale Ale

Brewed by Great Northern Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Whitefish, Montana USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker

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The brew arrives in my nonic pint glass a slightly hazy orange color. A fluffy white head sites on top of the liquid and leaves a small amount of lacing on the glass as it disappears. The nose has a definite citrus aroma to it, mainly oranges. Some slight hop scents are rounded out with a biscuit like smell. The taste again was very citrus in nature with plenty of malts to balance things out. I must say I’m a bit surprised by how much in the background the hops are.

Sample at the brewery. The bartender said they had found a few extra kegs and put it back on in February. Still had very fresh tasting hops. A very nice pale ale. Amber. Nice head.

22oz bomber pours clear deep gold with semi loose off white head. The modest aroma has some spicy hops, earthy to slightly dank hops as well as a bit of citrus like lemon to lime notes. The taste is similar with some spicy to earthy to dank like hoppiness that have both bittering hop and hop flavor going for them. Around those notes are lesser amounts of floral hops, some malt graininess, stale sort of organic malts and a yeastiness that seems to pull this apart rather than add to the experience. Regardless this is a decent product.

22 oz. bottle from a local, Kallispell, supermarket. This has a hazy gold apperance. There’s nothing special to look at here. This has a light pine hop aroma. It’s a little underwhelming in the aroma department. This has a very light sweet malt aroma. The flavor consists of a light bitter pine flavor, at first, but then the, somewhat, off-putting malt and yeast flavor kick in. My initial impression was that it’s pretty good for an APA, but now I’m beginning to think that this was a bit misleading on just how hoppy the beer is. Decent flavor, and the texture isn’t bad. Also, it was $3.20, so I’m not going to complain.

Bottle, purchased @ the brewery, only available in bomber bottles sold in-house. Bright lemony yellow, hazy, with a lively foamy head that displays excellent retention. Looks great, but the nose is pretty disappointing: sweaty grains with just hints of citrus and grass. Lighter mouthfeel, but with nice citrus hop flavours, slightly perfumey, bringing to mind lemongrass and fresh clementines. Decent, but falls short of being great simply for a lack of impact. Double the malt, double the hops, and then we may have something special-- who cares if you only put out half the quantity?

Purchased at the brewery. Pours a pale yellow with à small white head. The aroma is grassy with hits of lemon and bread. The flavor is soft and subtle. Lemon, herb, grass, spice and bready yeast. Not bad, I guess I was looking for a little more hop.

Bottle, many thanks to hobbersr for bringing this back from Montana for me. Pours clear honey/yellow, thick white head, quite nice lacing. Nose is soft hops, lemon/lime, light graininess, a very mild pine/grapefruit trace, but only because I’m really looking for it. Flavours are more assertively hoppy, but only slightly, this is a very lightly hopped Pale. Clean, balanced, but for a hop-focused ale, this is in serious need of HOPS!

Bottle: A pale, fuzzy golden color with a mountain of fluffy white head. Nose is aromatic with hops, florals and citrus. More sweet than anything. Wet hop mouthful is not overly hoppy or bitter, but flavorful of citrus and florals. The maltiness really drowns out any bitterness. A smooth, easy drinking fresh hop ale.