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1500
Drake's Brewing Co.
- From:
- Drake's Brewing Co.
- California, United States
- Style:
- American Pale Ale
Ranked #557 - ABV:
- 5.5%
- Score:
- 87
Ranked #16,932 - Avg:
- 3.87 | pDev: 11.11%
- Reviews:
- 147
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- May 24, 2023
- Added:
- Aug 02, 2005
- Wants:
- 29
- Gots:
- 105
As we approached our 1500th batch in San Leandro, the brewers decided to attempt something different. They set out to make a pale ale with a clean, stripped down malt bill and plenty of late addition hops that would give the beer huge flavors and aromas of bright citrusy American hops without overwhelming the balance with bitterness. The resulting beer packed the aromatic and flavorful hop punch of a West Coast-style IPA at a very easy drinking 5.5% ABV. The brewer and the people loved it. Now 1500 is a Drake’s flagship beer.
Malt: American 2-Row Barley, Patagonia Crystal 35
Hops: Bittering – Warrior; Whirlpool – Simcoe, Cascade, & Amarillo
Dry-hop: Simcoe & Amarillo
Yeast: White Labs 001
Original Gravity: 12.2 degrees Plato
IBUs: 48
Malt: American 2-Row Barley, Patagonia Crystal 35
Hops: Bittering – Warrior; Whirlpool – Simcoe, Cascade, & Amarillo
Dry-hop: Simcoe & Amarillo
Yeast: White Labs 001
Original Gravity: 12.2 degrees Plato
IBUs: 48
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by berkey:
Reviewed by berkey from California
4.07/5 rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.07/5 rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
12oz bottle poured into a stemmed pint glass. Pale amber body with a fairly strong haze. Forms a medium sized cream colored head with slightly above average retention. Once the head does start to fade it goes almost completely but leaves very nice sticky lacing on all sides of the glass.
Strong nose of citrus and pungent bitter hops with modest sweet and bready malts. Secondary floral hop aromas also come through. Drake's actually makes pretty consistently great smelling beers.
Taste isn't bad but not as good as the aroma. Malts don't stand up to the hops quite as well as I'd like. Flavor profile is somewhat thin on the entry, there's a slight citrus hoppyness and that's about it. Nice dry bitter hop aftertaste and subtle yeast presence on the finish though. Once it gets all the way to room temp there's an enjoyable, albeit very fleeting, honey and caramel malt character to accompany the hops.
This brew is medium bodied with nicely balanced carbonation. Interesting, slightly dry feel isn't bad. Easy enough to drink, I finished two bottles for this review but that's mostly because I know I'll be very busy the next few weeks and don't want to let this sit long in fear of the hops fading.
This beer drinks essentially as advertised on the bottle: A pale ale late hopped like an IIPA. Not 100% sure of that concept as this beer has some minor balance problems. I'm giving high marks overall but I have mixed feelings about this one, it's a nice, interesting pale and I wouldn't turn one down, but not really sure if I'll buy it again. There are too many better hoppy ales out there, including a few from this brewer.
Nov 12, 2009Strong nose of citrus and pungent bitter hops with modest sweet and bready malts. Secondary floral hop aromas also come through. Drake's actually makes pretty consistently great smelling beers.
Taste isn't bad but not as good as the aroma. Malts don't stand up to the hops quite as well as I'd like. Flavor profile is somewhat thin on the entry, there's a slight citrus hoppyness and that's about it. Nice dry bitter hop aftertaste and subtle yeast presence on the finish though. Once it gets all the way to room temp there's an enjoyable, albeit very fleeting, honey and caramel malt character to accompany the hops.
This brew is medium bodied with nicely balanced carbonation. Interesting, slightly dry feel isn't bad. Easy enough to drink, I finished two bottles for this review but that's mostly because I know I'll be very busy the next few weeks and don't want to let this sit long in fear of the hops fading.
This beer drinks essentially as advertised on the bottle: A pale ale late hopped like an IIPA. Not 100% sure of that concept as this beer has some minor balance problems. I'm giving high marks overall but I have mixed feelings about this one, it's a nice, interesting pale and I wouldn't turn one down, but not really sure if I'll buy it again. There are too many better hoppy ales out there, including a few from this brewer.
More User Ratings:
Rated by ivanbrew
5/5 rDev +29.2%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
5/5 rDev +29.2%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
I tried this beer out of the can is definitely nice and light and crisp with a little bit of a bitter finish I’d say good Pale ale
May 24, 2023Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho
4/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Draft at the Happy Viking. Dark golden color, thin head. Aroma and taste feature some rich caramel, toasted malts, and a light hoppy back end. exceptionally smooth and extremely tasty,
Oct 25, 2022Reviewed by iamkishanshah from California
4.21/5 rDev +8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.21/5 rDev +8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Look: Golden pale yellow in color, not completely transparent, 1/2 finger white head and amazing lacing
Smell: Raw mango, raspberry, fruity and floral aromas
Taste: Crisp and fruity (Raw Mango, berries and flavors), your classic west coast IPA with a very dry finish
Feel: Medium mouthfeel
Overall, I wonderful and tasty beer brewed with a lot of thought behind it.
Jun 11, 2022Smell: Raw mango, raspberry, fruity and floral aromas
Taste: Crisp and fruity (Raw Mango, berries and flavors), your classic west coast IPA with a very dry finish
Feel: Medium mouthfeel
Overall, I wonderful and tasty beer brewed with a lot of thought behind it.
Reviewed by BerkeleyBeerSleuth from California
4/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Aroma of pine, orange, hops oils, light bready malts. Taste is citrus with a slight pine. Malt profile is laid back and allows the delicate hops to shine. Easy to drink and refreshing.
Jul 12, 2021Reviewed by patre_tim from Thailand
3.65/5 rDev -5.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.65/5 rDev -5.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Soft straw with moderate, soft carbonation and 2 fingers of white head.
Smells of skunk, pine, pineapple, melon and lemon tea.
Tastes of soft melon, pineapple, citrus an pine.
Light body with light carbonation. Soft and pillowy.
I got this in Redding where I am drinking it March 15th, 2019.
Mar 16, 2019Smells of skunk, pine, pineapple, melon and lemon tea.
Tastes of soft melon, pineapple, citrus an pine.
Light body with light carbonation. Soft and pillowy.
I got this in Redding where I am drinking it March 15th, 2019.
1500 from Drake's Brewing Co.
Beer rating:
87 out of
100 with
522 ratings
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