The Governator Ale

Formerly brewed at Portland Brewing Company (Pyramid Breweries)
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Portland, Oregon USA

Serve in English pint

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I’ve had two seperate samples so far and one bottle was sour (drainpour). Second bottle was much better, caramel taste slight hop flavor. It could be a session beer, but really it’s just the "Billy Beer" of the 21st Century. More of a novelty than anything.

A little disappointing, light copper color, bubbly white head, slight hop in the nose, thin & light in the body, flavors weren’t too balanced well, not enough hoppiness, not enough of a malt character either, definitely something the brewer just wanted to cash in on as far as the name goes, a very weak & thin beer

Poured an orange golden color with a small off white head and no lacing on the glass. Aroma of sweet caramel and bandage. Overall a rather weak hoppy and caramel taste. More a novelty than a good beer.

two dollars worth of beer in a four dollar bottle. it’s an ordinary amber ale-- honey grahams with a bubbly, fairly thin body. it has a decent caramel popcorn aroma, but look here, it’s no champion: it’s not so bold, not so articulated. it’s not a governator, it’s a couch-potator. the malty biceps are flabby and undeveloped. the abs that represent the hops are gelatinous and lazy-- offering only a rind of dried lemon; the thighs and quads of body tremble and lack the vascularity we associate with real athletic brewing prowess. look at the stage presense, the desired alacrity, personality and vivacity: they’re perhaps present but woefully insubstansial. you can’t dress up a goat to run in the kentucky derby-- don’t claim to be a muscular beer when you’re wheezing with anemic underachievement. this ain’t mr. olympia, this is mr oleo-margarine.

Picked this up on my trip to Cali, figured I should go ahead and rate it. Considered saving it intact for posterity, but forget that, I want a beer! Medium orange color, rather elegant creamy head. Aroma is of stewed grapefruit, and some sweet malts. This ain’t a bitter. Sweet, medium mouthfeel, then a burst of undefined but slightly fruity hop bitterness. Surprisingly short finish is what I think causes so many raters to mention thin body. Really a very decent beer, although not an ESB, and certaintly hurt by the gimmicky nature of the bottle.

I didn’t think this really fit well with some of the better ESBs I’ve had. Medium amber in appearance, OK head- but nothing special. Kind of a plain, hoppy aroma. Taste is very average and kinda watery. Very average altogether.

Pours a nice amber color with a nice white head. This beer has a great hop aroma, very fruity smell to it. Taste starts sweet and citrusy and ends only mildly bitter. Nice beer focusing on the hops.

UPDATED: JUN 14, 2004 (Bottle) After reading all the reviews, I put this beer in with a pale ale tasting, and that was a mistake; While not a great representative of the style, this still seems more like a basic American ESB to me than a pale ale; Medium bodied, moderately sweet and malty, and mildly bitter in the finish, but without a lot of hops, so this is a malt dominated beer; The nose is sweetish and lightly malty, with pretty much no hops; Medium golden color; Off white head fades to a thick ring around the glass; Just a few small streaks of lacing; In the end, this is a drinkable beer, nothing special, but not horrible either; However, I would have expected a beer named for The Terminator to be an unapologetic ass kicking beer, and while this was an okay beer, it certainly isn't worthy for the Last Action Hero; He deserves a Commando Double IPA!

Very fizzy, very thin off white head, pours a light copper coloration. Hops, flowers, apples dominate the aroma. Pretty watery, really taste nothing like the other Bitter’s I have had. Slight honey taste, watery hops, and that is about it. Pretty one-sided brew, that is just plain bland and average.

Whatever the hell this is, I thought it was great. VERY spicy, tons of fresh hops in there, big almost full body and just incredibly bitter (though not citric). Malt presence is not really tasted, but provides body. Stiff carbonation, unimpressive dull, clear yellow color, white head. Flavorful and well-made, but maybe a bit too one-dimensional with all the hop bitterness. Aroma is highly floral, lightly fruity and altogether, quite full.