Clone Ale
Olde Main Brewing Co. & Restaurant

Had pint on tap at Olde Main in Ames, IA.
Billed as a pale ale, the dominant taste up front was malt and biscuit; more than expected but not off-putting. The hops come in rather late and linger. I would not call this a balanced APA but it was decent and a rather different flavor profile compared to others of its type. Not sure what it's supposed to be a "clone" of; not SNPA, for sure. I'm surprised at the number of low ratings; perhaps it doesn't bottle well. At $3.50 a pint I would buy this again, for sure.

 

Poured vigorously into a tulip glass, this pale ale gave a reasonable head and a nice hop aroma, but definitely isn't is the class of the best pale ales. It tastes fine, had a good feel, and I collect beer labels and I like this one. I don't understand all of the harsh labels, if I was in Ames I wouldn't have any problem drinking one of these beers. When I went to ISU back in the 70s we had to drink beer that was much much worse!!

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a color more toward the brown end of the spectrum rather than golden (as many apa's are described). The nose is unremarkable - no impression of hops. The taste is good - somewhat malty for an apa and not very hoppy. Mouth feel is about right. I found this a very drinkable if unremarkable ale, but I'm from Ames and I'm a Cyclone fan, so what do you expect?

I think those that trashed this beer were overly harsh, or perhaps the brewer is inconsistent. Certainly there are better apa's but this isn't bad.

 

I had one of these from a 6-pack of 12oz bottles which I poured into a frosted glass mug about 2 years ago. This was the 2nd to last beer I had from Olde Main and I don't think I'll be having any more. I was really harsh on this beer rating-wise because I feel like it's criminal for Olde Main to call this a beer. Every beer I've had from Olde Main tastes really flat even though the bottles are carbonated. This beer was one of the only beers that I couldn't finish the 6-pack on.

The beer literally tasted like seltzer water with a bit of pale ale flavoring added. I really shy away from things that are named from sports teams, so when I saw a 6-pack at Hy-Vee I normally wouldn't look twice, but it was on sale for like $5.00 so I thought I'd give it a try. I want to try to be constructive and examine the good and bad points of this brew, but this is just ridiculous. I can understand having lower standards because the customer-base at Olde Main is largely college students who don't now any better, but this beer is downright terrible and it's unfair to try to honestly critique it. It appeared golden in color and had a decent head, smelled really "weak" and as I mentioned it tasted like seltzer water, not beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from an inch or so above the glass leaves a big white to off white head above a clear golden colored ale.

Aroma is a light sour lemony almost soapy, with some citrus hops notes.

Taste is of light lemons with a little citrus hops through in which makes an almost decent tasting APA, I wouldn't might drinking a few of these to get a better feel for them.

Slightly watery which makes a smooth drinking light to medium bodied beer with a slightly dry aftertaste that still holds a little bitter hops bite to it.