Wolavers Pale Ale

Brewed by Otter Creek Brewing
Style: American Pale Ale
Middlebury, Vermont USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker

12 oz. bottle. Pours a clear amber with a moderate creamy head that lasted through the entire glass. Pleasant malt aroma along with some light citrus. Less malt present in the flavor, which was more dominated by the hops. Bitter, dry aftertaste that lasted five to ten seconds after the swallow. An interesting and good interpretation of the style.

Bottle (12oz). Poured clear bright amber with a decent foamy-fizzy white head. Fresh juicy malt and light citrus hops aroma, some yeast and sourness lurking in the background. Taste follows, more hop bitterness, quick somewhat bitter diminish, it quickly develops bottle metal in the taste, watery and astringent mouthfeel, quite lively. Session PA.

Pours with a small white head on a cloudy deep orange body. Strong malty aroma with some light hops. Strong malty bitter taste on a medium body.

Orange in color with a thin white head. Light floral hops aroma. Mildly sweet flavor with some flowery taste.

Pours a nice orangish color. Aroma is floral hops, some caramel, and a hint of vegtables. Flavor of a classic pale, nice hop flavor.

Bottle, "Bottled on 10/17/05, Lot #1785" If first impressions mean anything, this is a good one, since when I twist the top, I immediately get a happy, beery and hoppy smell. Pours a clean copper brown; surprised to find no floaties (if it’s not pasteurized, it must be heavily fined or filtered), in fact, it’s very clean with just a few streams of bubbles in the glass, and a thin ale head at the top. Malts are pretty crisp, kind of in the range of a Vienna, with a bit of caramel roast and the idea of cherries. The hop choices give it more of a German character than the usual Centennial/Cascade mix of most APAs, but there is a very good dose of Hallertauer in here. A little lace on the glass. Finishes very clean, no conditioning yeast in the bottle. A good "medium" beer, but in the end, perhaps a bit forgettable. It’s a gotta be hard to stand out in the same category as Alpha King. Found the Wolavers at the Wild Oats store in Westmont, IL.

Good, barky flavor, sharp hops, watery finish. As with the IPA from this brewer, I feel like this beer could use a little more character.

Here again, not a whole lot happening in the flavor department. Definitely more of a balance than the IPA. The malt character is a bit more developed. Still overly sweet though for a pale ale.