River Buddy Pale Ale
Kern River Brewing Company

On tap at Kern River Brewing

A: Pours slightly hazy with a frothy eggshell white head that settles to a light layer and laces very nicely.

S: Resinous pine, bright citrus zest, light tropical and stone fruit, a touch of peppery spice, faint floral and herbal notes, and biscuity malt, with just a touch of sweetness.

T: Resinous pine, herbal and grassy notes, citrus, lemon and grapefruit, underlying tropical and stone fruit that slowly comes out of hiding, apricot, passion fruit, peach, mango, and plum, peppery spice, floral hints, biscuity malt, and just a touch of sweetness with a fairly dry finish.

M: On the lighter side of medium body, moderate carbonation.

O: Really tasty Westy Pale. Would definitely hit after a warm day on the river.

Appearance: Slightly cloudy yellow amber color with a generous-sized, thick, off-white head that slowly faded. A nice-looking beer.

Smell: Moderate piney aromas dominate the nose with some faint grassy aromas also present.

Taste: Some mildly sweet citrus notes and some moderate pine notes makes themselves known in the flavor profile. The beer finishes with some moderate bitter hop notes which dries the beer out nicely.

Mouth-feel: Fairly light-bodied with a generous level of carbonation.

Overall: A good pale ale beer, perfect for the upcoming summer season. While not an IPA, the hop presence brings some fruitiness along with some bitter hop notes resulting in a smooth easy drinking beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clean golden colour, huge foamy head
Nice smell, resinous, grapefruit, passionfruit, biscuit
The taste follows with a tamed watermelon character. Balanced

Low carbonation, quite dry

A nice pale ale

Now I see why it’s called river buddy, definitely a nice crusher pale ale for hot days that is packed with flavor. When poured in a glass it has that nice hazy look with perfect head!

This is the sixth of six cans, and it's still pretty fresh at under 50 days from canning. Loved their Just Outstanding IPA, but Chuuurch was a little too sweet and oddly floral to me in a way I couldn't identify. Figured it must be a hop I didn't like, but they only listed Mosaic, Citra, and Amarillo, which are consistently delicious.

When I tasted this one, I instantly disliked it. It's literally like a Chuuurch Session IPA. All the cloying, weirdly bittersweet flavor of Chuurch at a 2% lower ABV. But what I learned from drinking these is that it's definitely not a hop that I don't like.

It's the rye.

L: Looks about the sexiest pale ale I've ever seen. Hazy as gravy with a huge, dense, cream-colored head that leaves tons of beautiful lacing all over the goblet.

S: I notice some nice juicy sour hop notes of tangerine and elderberry at first, but in under a second it's overcompensated by a strange dry sweetness, like almond oil and vanilla with hints of cedar and sandalwood ending in a warmness like licorice root with a sharp peppery tickle for the finish. It would make a hell of a candle, but it doesn't exactly smell appetizing to me.

T: And it actually tastes fairly offensive. Upon sipping, an astringent, perfumey bitterness like almond essential oil begins to overwhelm my pallate. Amid the onslaught, I taste pomelo pith, cranberry, vanilla, bready sweetness, black currant, cedar, black pepper and fresh red basil; but who knows, I could be hallucinating. Upon finishing this review, the initial perfumey note still lingers at the back of my tongue.

F: Feel is fantastic. Smooth and substantial for a pale ale with a nice tart bite and relentless carbonation.

O: I now know that I do not like rye in hoppy pale ales.Despite that I did not enjoy it very much, the look, the feel, and the reviews of others all indicate quality craftsmanship. This may well be a very good pale, but rye bread is one of the few foods that I am yet to have a positive experience consuming. It's probably just my own personal sensitivity to the flavor, so I will respectfully give this a decent score.

Got in a trade with RaulMondesi. 12 ounce can into pint glass, canned on 5/21/2018. Pours moderately hazy/cloudy golden amber/light orange color with a 2 finger dense and rocky off white head with amazing retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts the whole glass. Thick soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Insane appearance. Aromas of big tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, berry, citrus peel/rind, mint, peppercorn, pine, toasted rye bread, light honey, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, berry, citrus peel/rind, mint, peppercorn, pine, toasted bread, spicy rye, light honey, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, berry, citrus peel/rind, mint, peppercorn, pine, toasted bread, spicy rye, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate bready malt flavors; with a nice malt/bitterness balance, and minimal lingering hop astringency after the finish. Moderate increasing dryness from bitterness and carbonation. Medium-high carbonation and medium body; with a very smooth, moderately crisp, bready/grainy, and sticky/resinous/rindy balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol for 5.6%. Overall this is a fantastic American pale ale! All around outstanding complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate bready malt flavors; with smooth, crisp, and pretty refreshing to drink with the moderately bitter/drying finish, not overly aggressive. Great Simcoe, Citra, Eureka showcase. Balanced juicy, dank, vibrant, and earthy hop complexity; nice bready/rye malt backbone, with no residual sweetness. A highly enjoyable offering, and spot on style example. Loved the hop profile as expected.

So your man has an idea... Kern should only make Pales! Their IPA’s, well... But this dang sucker is restrained like Adriana Lima in bondage! Light delicate hops, smooth bitterness.... Umm, hello!?

Yep!

*Quick addendum - Since this review, Raul has grown very fond of Kern’s IPA’s)

 

Pours an unclear light orange with thick, soapy head.

Smell is citrusy with notes of pine, a little earthy with just a hint of tartness.

Taste is very balanced and citrusy. Refreshing pine and some earthiness on the finish.

Mouthfeel is medium, well carbonated.

Overall, a nice and refreshing pale ale that you could probably drink all day long.

 

No canning date.

Pours out yellowish orange. Tightly packed white bubbles. Leaves some decent lacing.

Lots of orange zest, some lemon, pine and grapefruit aromas as well. A bit of a bready note too.

A very sessionable pale.

The beer pours out a lightly hazy dark golden color, with 1 finger of white head------------ the aromas are of Guava, grapefruit, pine, pineapple, peach syrup and carmel--------------- the flavors are light and dry with a breadiness followed by pine and grapefruit with lesser lime and guava, the beer has a medium mouthfeel with a medium bitter finish--------------- overall this beer was delicious, it's such a crusher I can see myself putting Theese away easily at the river

Can from Beercraft. Medium golden, small foamy head subsides to skin. Light grainy, fruity aroma. Taste approaches like a lager, and then brings in enough hops to raise this to an APA. Damn smooth. Mildly sweet. Extremely drinkable.