Whistler Paradise Valley Grapefruit Ale

Brewed by Whistler Brewing Company
Style: Fruit Beer
Whistler, Canada

Serve in Flute, Shaker

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Murky copper with mountainous bubbly head. Aroma = grapefruit juice, cereal. Taste is similar - grapefruit upfront then it turns into a relatively uninteresting blonde ale or something. Refreshing, sure, but a miss on the beer and on the grapefruit.

Pours a cloudy pinkish orange color with very little head and no lace. Dull smell of grapefruit on the nose with a good malt flavor and a very authentic bitter grapefruit finish. Overall very impressed with it for a fruit beer.

A couple of 4oz samples at VCBW 2012 in the Salt Building in Vancouver pours a light golden orange color with a small white head that leaves no lacing. Aroma is mild grapefruit with some cereal grains. Taste is light grapefruit bitterness with an underlying malt sweetness and a mild hop bitterness in the finish. Light bodied with mild carbonation. Overall, a decent fruit beer which is easy to drink and quite refreshing.

Pours a very hazy, slightly cloudy copper color with a very nice tall, off white head. Aroma has a lot of grapefruit and lemon citrus juice nose to it with a light caramel malt sweetness late. Flavor has a very pungent grapefruit juice taste with a lot of acidity. Malt creeps in at the very end with some mild toasted notes and some sweet caramel malt late in the sampling. Body is slightly sugary, with a low amount of carbonation and a slight oily texture to it. Overall a very interesting and unique brew. The grapefruit comes through with a terrific acidic juice flavor of which I haven’t seen in any other brew. Very tasty.

Bottle at home, from my Minneapolis Town Hall glass. Pours cloudy deep golden, with a plum/red hue. Thin off-white head, spotty to poor lacing. Nose is clean grain, no real hop notes, and really quite remarkably nice grapefruit notes. Quite simple and straightforward in the mouth: snappy grapefruit, simple malt, a bit tart and juicy in the finish. I was expecting this to be sweeter, or more Radler-like, but this is exactly what it says on the label, an ale with grapefruit added, and if that’s what you’re looking for, then I suppose this delivers. But the question would be: Why were you looking for this? Wouldn’t you rather get your grapefruit notes from the hops in a good APA/IPA/Blonde Ale? While this is a fine beer, it really comes off as the answer to a question no-one asked. This likely wouldn’t appeal to a Radler drinker, and as an IPA-Freak, this isn’t the first place I’d turn if I were looking for grapefruit notes, something with a shit-ton of Columbus or Simcoe hops would be, Fine as a fruit beer, but I just don’t get why this was made.

341 ml bottle. Pours a pink/orange with large head that dissipates quickly. Aroma of orange/grapefruit fruit juice. Flavors of melon and flat grapefruit juice with a bit of smokiness. A cooler, not a beer. But an OK summer pounder...

All I can say is wow! I've never had a beer that tasted like this. It really is malty and nice in the middle but with a citrus finish that is distinctly grapefruit. A nice change from the typical summer refresher. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Seems to be half juice half pale ale. Yes the juice is really prominent, not much backbone. Good idea, because people are definitely looking for beer with a grapefruit kick -- it’s seen as a plus in the IPAs after all -- but it wasn’t carried out that well, the beer is too weak for me. Try Spearhead Hawaiian Pale Ale to see the same idea carried out much better.

Not bad for a grapefruit/radler beer, but not a great beer either. Pours a bright ruby red with a thin quickly dead cap of white head. The nose has a big grapefruit tang and a light grainy malt. A hint of hops on the nose. The flavor is light and has a nice grapefruit flavor, but it just doesn’t quite float my boat.

Bottle - Marmalade on toast and not in a good way. Cloudy orange with no head. Tastes like marmalade as well, there is no reason to drink marmalade.