Burning Bird Pale Ale
Sonoran Brewing Company

One of the more "average" beers I've had in a while. Pours golden and hazy, some sediment, but a massive, massive head. Way overcarbonated. Smell was fine. Little hops and malt but slightly soapy I thought. Taste was ok, not as bitter as I'd like even in a pale. Some caramel and grassy hops but all slightly muted. Mouthfeel was fine, lighter and somewhat crisp. Overall ok, but nothing I'd revisit.

A finger of thick, bone-white head with decent retention. Color was a medium-amber with NE-plus clarity. Nose had a crisp, citrusy scent. Mouthfeel was medium with a wild lemon zestiness on the tongue. Finish was crisp, dry, and really refreshing. Pale ale?!? In the south, they would call this an IPA, if they could make such a beer. What a find!

I drank this two days after buying it from AJ's in Chandler, AZ. The color is a very light orange with almost no head. Looked great, but no matter how hard the pour, I just couldn't get the stuff to foam much at all. No lacing at all. Smelled of caramel and malt. Tasted of caramel, malt, and (disturbingly) a wee bit of vinegar which was somewhat off-putting. Not really much hop flavor at all. Carbonation, as mentioned earlier, was not what it should have been. I really wanted to like this beer more than I did, but it's just too off-kilter for me.

Big thanks to hopdog for sharing this.
Dark gold beer, fairly clear, topped by a soapy white head. Just a little lacing with decent head retention. Mild aroma, some floral and orange hop notes. The flavour followed suit - light bitterness, a little citrus and mild malting. Medium/light body and carbonation. Quite drinkable, but simple and plain.

Thanks to hopdog for supplying the bottle and to weear138 for facilitating the tasting at his home. review from notes taken 3 days ago.

Presentation: a 1 liter, flip top bottle may be considered a growler or a bottle.

Appearance: Massive carbonation. Even a very gentle slow pour resulted in a massive 5 finger white fizzy head. One speculation is that because of the swing top bottle they intentionally uped the CO2. Who knows; but the head was massive, the lacing generous and the body very active.

Smell: With everything going on in the appearance the aroma the aroma was less majestic. It was very reserved and plane. A touch of peach and citrus orange, parallel a light floral hop aroma but I really had to dig for them.

Taste: As a Pale Ale this is inoffensive but if fails to wow. It had a simple sweet malt attribute, leans slightly toward the fruity side and a very mild suggestions citric hops. The nice dry finish is the best thing it has going for it.

Mouthfeel & Drinkability: The body is very light and fizzy, so paired with the dry finish it was quite refreshing and about as drinkable as water.

Hope this is helpful.
Cheers!

Nice golden amber color with a super fluffy white head and lots of lacing. Super carbonation as well. Tap handle logo has the coolest looking logo around. It's a Phoenix carrying branches of hops. Smell is lightly fruity and malty with some hops coming through.
Taste is mellow and citrusy with a slight bitterness. Pretty decent balance. Nice and crisp.
Mouthfeel is ok. Slightly watery but it gets the job done and is enjoyable.

This beer poured almost picture perfect. Clear golden with an off white head that never ever went away. The bubbles cascaded up through the beer and made my mouth water for more.

A slight amount of earthiness was eveident in the nose. Probably the weakest aspect of this beer.

The taste was centered around the hop citrus, but was not dominated by it. Some malt sweetness was present.

The mouthfeel was crsip and thirst quenching. A bit light for my preference but good none the less.

This beer is quite nice and look forward to drinking the others I have stashed in my refer.

Sample courtesy of Gueuzedude via BIFx. Many thanks.

Initially a fresh citrus aroma, then briefly a duller flatter quality, but settles into the initial aspects.
Bit of an excessive head that settles around the rim first leaving a mound in the center. Solid and persistent. Orange amber with gold. Clear. Plenty of lacing.
Nice mix of subtle malt sweetness and citrus flavors and bitterness. Good combination and mix. Nice long somewhat dry bitter finish.
Quite thin and watery at first, yet it seems to improve in time. Some fullness from carbonation.
Well balanced. Nice refreshing qualtiy. Good standard. Easy one to make a staple.

Clear light amber appearance. Thin head of foam that leaves a very light lace.

The aroma is decent: the malt and hop are well balanced, nice bouquet, probably dry hopped.

A higher level of oily-alcohol than expected. The malt dies quickly on the initial taste then the hop starts soft and builds to the predominant flavor in the aftertaste. Astringent and dry, this is a tasty beer but not very complex. The flavors are fairly two dimensional.

Clear light copper hue. Tall, dense, steadfast pitted ivory white head yields thick lace. Hop nose of soft grapefruit with a minty edge. Malt character in aroma is of mild, light lovibond caramel with a trace toasted pale malt twang. Clean and understated aromawise. In flavor the prevalent malt presence is of dilute light toffee with a bready base malt undertone. Hop bitterness is mild, but appropriate due to the high attenuation and paltry residual sweetness. Meager grapefruit hop flavor. Devoid of yeast esters, and nearly lager like in its neutral yeast presence. Lightly bodied, with a parching, but softly dextrinous mouthfeel. Finishes dry and abrupt, with only a brief snap of caramel sweetness. A rather ho hum pale ale, but its squeaky clean overall profile facilitates decent drinkability.

Appearance – a clear orange/amber color. Stable white head, with moderate thickness.
Smell – hoppy and citrusy
Taste – Apricot flavor with citrusy hop notes. Moderate malt flavor with a more aggressive hop bitterness. Very low Diacetyl.
Mouthfeel – highly carbonated. Starts dry and finishes smooth and bitter
Drinkability – crisp and refreshing. A good beer after a long days work.
Overall – A good example of the American pale Ale style, with the exeption of the apricot flavor. However that sort of thing is what makes craft brewing so great!

Appearance – Crystalline orange in color and very clear. The head was full and fluffy showing good retention and leaving that “volcanic pit” effect that I enjoy so much.

Smell – Ah, this is a good one. The sharp hoppy aroma has some nice notes of apricot pits. It doesn’t jump across the room at you, but stick your nose in that glass and you’ll get it for sure. I can also tell that they didn’t skimp on the malty backbone.

Taste – The apricots turn very peach here, much like a peach schnapps. The wonderful hops overtake the malt from the nose, making this one a classic Pale Ale.

Mouthfeel – Smooth as silk and light-medium in the body. This was just a tad bitter but very thirst-quenching. I would have loved to have seen a little bit more body, but otherwise this one’s a winner.

Drinkability – This was terrific. I took a deep whiff every time I drank. They know how to make thirst-quenching session ales in Phoenix.

Comments – Special thanks to a great AZ BA, Gusler, for sending this one out my way.

Orange/amber color moderate creamy beige head-numerous not overly exciting floaters.. Tangy hop aromas and bisquit malty sweetness in the nose. Flavors favor hop yet there is a good dose of, again, malty/bisquit like sweetness. Nothing to complex, perhaps a little diluted, yet a sound brew that will find some friends in the desert sun. Send some to Yuma-it is sure to refresh the folks over at The Back Room-that is if the place still exists!

Pours a nice, amber-orange, with a full head that settles, leaving some off-white lace. Smells are of citrus hops over light, sweet pale and amber malts (i sense some crystal in there.)People certainly haven't missed the citrus, grapefruit quality of this. Perhaps it is because grapefruit is mentioned on the bottle's description. Either way, it is a bright and interesting brew. It is not spectacular in any way, but there is certainly a unique personality to it. I'm glad to have tried it, and would get it again if it were available. Also, the Burning Bird title is well deserved. The taste of this beer seems fitting to both the area in which it was brewed and the legend of the Phoenix. I don't know; maybe I'm just crazy.

Many thanks to drweizen for this tasty treat! Pours an orangeish yellow color with quite a thick head. There's a nice amount of carbonation in the beer, so the retention is good as well - and after a bit of consumption there's some nice lace on my glass.

The smell is probably stronger than I'm expecting from a pale ale (not necessarily a bad thing) - pine, hops and a hint of citrus.

The taste is creamy and malty at first, though these flavors disappeared for grapefruit, lemon and that tingling pale ale grassy-hops taste. The last 2/3 of my beer was a bit thin, but this was quite refresing and very easy to drink.

Pours with a white three-fingered head, fades slowly and leaves a good lace. Medium carbonation and body. Orange-amber color, not completely clear. Very citrusy hoppy nose. Starts slightly sweet but hoppy and finishes citrusy with a bite. Surprisingly good flavor after being frozen solid.

This one arrived in the January Beer of the Month Club shipment. Pours a vibrant orange with a small, bone-white frothy head. Amazing floral nose - hoppy, citrusy, peachy, slightly yeasty. Almost like a saison nose, very unusual for an APA. My impression diminshed substantially upon actually drinking this beer. A very thin, watery body with a dominant bitter palate. Not hop-bitter, either, just bitter-bitter. A bit of mid-palate malty sweetness, but it quickly dissolves into more bitterness. Finishes very dry, and the aftertaste does go away pretty quickly. After such a promising nose, I'm very disappointed in this one.

Medium orange gold color. Medium head. Aroma is malts, floral and grapefruit. A medium bodied pale ale. Malts are fruity and sweet. Hops are grapefruity. Well balanced. Really fruity for a pale ale, but its balanced by some fairly aggressive grapefruity hops. All in all, a nice taste. Mouthfeel is full and round. Aftertaste is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter

This beer is a copper color with a thick cream to tan colored head. Fairly clear with a bit of chill haze when it first pours. Smells like American hopes, an orange-marmalade / grapefruit aroma to it. Smells sweet from the hops as well. There is a full amount of hop flavor that seeps through as this beer passes through my mouth. Citrus flavors, lightly malty sweet, just wonderful. A fine example of a pale ale, which surpasses many of its more popular brethren pale ales. Finishes with a good hop bitterness. As the beer warms up a bit it becomes quite clear. This beer and the hops definitely remind me of orange-marmalade, yummy.

Brownish orange in color with a slight haze. Voluminous off-white head that left lace.
The wonderful spicy, citrusy hop aroma leaps out at you and envelopes your senses. Pale malt underneath the hops.

Taste follows with huge hop flavor that is spicy and citrusy. Very grapefruit like. Biscuity pale malt underneath that falls short of balancing this one. The flavors just don't seem to meld together well in this one preventing it from ascending into that next level of beer greatness. Still, hoppy and quite tastey.

Good mouthfeel.
Good drinkability.

Overall, a good, enjoyable pale ale. It made my day when a co-worker returning from vacation in AZ pulled a sixer of this out.