1500
Drake's Brewing Co.

15001500
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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:
522
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
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by berkey:
Photo of 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
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, 2009
More User Ratings:
Photo of ivanbrew
Rated by ivanbrew

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, 2023
 
Rated: 3.9 by Timmmmaaayyy from Pennsylvania

Feb 14, 2023
 
Rated: 3.88 by Beergod420 from Michigan

Feb 04, 2023
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

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, 2022
 
Rated: 4.37 by Beecham from California

Jun 14, 2022
Photo of iamkishanshah
Reviewed by iamkishanshah from California

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, 2022
 
Rated: 3.83 by bpkrippner from Missouri

May 30, 2022
Photo of BerkeleyBeerSleuth
Reviewed by BerkeleyBeerSleuth from California

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, 2021
 
Rated: 3.43 by mikekreein from California

Jan 11, 2021
 
Rated: 3.75 by gefinley from California

Sep 25, 2020
 
Rated: 4 by bpfrush from Wisconsin

Oct 23, 2019
 
Rated: 3.67 by ProNR from Florida

Sep 12, 2019
 
Rated: 3.94 by FrankCastle from California

Aug 25, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by Ice_Cream_And_IPAs from New York

Jul 28, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by bdlusa from Texas

Jun 25, 2019
 
Rated: 3.73 by TheBrewsky from California

Jun 22, 2019
 
Rated: 3.96 by Azpittil57 from Arizona

Jun 02, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by Danzinar from California

Mar 21, 2019
Photo of patre_tim
Reviewed 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
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, 2019
1500 from Drake's Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 522 ratings