The Tap American Pale Ale

Draft at the Tap - Burnished gold, white creamy head. Floral grassy nose with hints of fruity caramel. Soft nutty earth and floral tones balances the flavor well. Light bodied, soft carbonation, dry, light bitter finish. Decent...

More than any other, the Pale Ale category seems to be all over the place in terms of what is considered appropriate for the style. Different interpretations of the American Pale Ale have brought many interesting offerings to the table. It pours a dark yellow to light amber color with a fizzy, off-white head. Clear, crisp body. Aroma is of sweet malts, with a similarity to the HaverAle, in that there isn’t much to the profile. Intial taste is heavy bitter, mellowing to a moderately bitter finish with an average duration. Light bodied, it has a watery texture on the mouth with lively carbonation with a soapy aftertaste. The standard in this category for us is Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale, and while this offering is well constructed in its appearance, it’s not quite there yet with its nose and taste. Reviewed on January 9th, 2007

on tap-pours an off white head and gold color with effervescence. Aroma is light/medium hops. Taste is crisp bite from light medium hops, secondary medium malt-slightly sweet. Good carbonation.

[Draught @ Bukowski’s] Pours a clear, amber color; short, off white head. Aroma is grassy, citrus hops. Very floral and inviting, aromatic hops. Flavors are hoppy and fruity, but very well balanced on the malt side of things. Malty, earthy sweetness rounds things out in the end. Very nice.

Draught pints at Redbones on 9/11 and 9/14/06.
Very deep, canteloupe-meets-copper body, with blood orange tints. Spectacular clarity with still some material left in suspension, giving it that glassy look that signifies both the lack of filtration and the proper resting/racking of the beer. Gentle carbonation make its way up, randomly, throughout the liquid, creating an off-white head that is wispy and sticks well to the glass, though is not all that bountiful or retained.
Sharp, very pungent hops fly off the liquid. Plenty of melon and lemon with a strong, English-hop grassiness, though obviously some higher AA hybrid (as in, it’s not just your average 3-5AA goldings). But the American portion of hops slowly takes over, wrestling control as the very light crystal malt begins to show midway through, giving a slight toasty/sourish edge laden with caramel. Melons and even a glimpse of pine, with hard citrus on the backend keep the nose on its toes. There’s just enough of the herbal/grassy hoppiness to meld with the melon notes and keep it more aromatic than bitter, however, and it hangs in fair balance all the way through. No alcohol noted, some light pale sugars flit about, fresh, though very clean, yeast is lightly apparent. Strength of the aroma is medium-high.
A kick in the jaw comes upon first sip from some excessive, floral, almost resinous hoppiness that is quite bitter and acidic. It settles down in to a moderately round caramel sweetness, bolstered by pale malt sugars. It remains edgy though, and has an almost spicy character to it which reminds me very much of Back Road’s Midwest IPA that I just drank. Moderate to moderately high carbonation is a bit annoying at times, but certainly keeps the sweetness in check and helps delay the acidic/bitter onset of the hops. Though in the end, it still builds up on the palate, there being a fair bittering addition, it seems. But there is still quite a bit of hop flavor going on here. Leafiness, floral notes, light herbs and melon. A touch of wateriness is noted on the end, and it sweetens somewhat too much as it warms and breathes, but still a carefully crafted APA. No alcohol noted in flavor, texture could be a little more soft/creamy.