Phoenix Golden Ale
Tri-City Brewing Company

Light copper colored pour with a small off-white head. Sweet caramel aroma. Taste has nice malty caramel and biscuit flavors. Can also taste a bit of brown sugar, nut and bread. Medium bodied.

 

Pours a clear medium copper with moderate head and persistent lacing.
Smell is a sweet malt mix of caramel and toffee.
Taste is sweet caramel malts\ and dark fruits.
Bit of a sour aftertaste.

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, no bottle dating. Pours lightly hazy medium orange/amber/light copper color with a 1 finger dense and rocky off white head with good retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, and toasted biscuit; and light notes of nuttiness, lemon, plum, pear, apple, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/bready malt and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with solid strength. A little too fruity/yeasty in the nose, but not overwhelming. Taste of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, and toasted biscuit; and light notes of nuttiness, lemon, plum, pear, apple, herbal, grass, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Light herbal/grassy/spicy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, herbal, grass, light nuttness/fruit, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Light dryness from lingering bitterness, lightly increasing through the glass. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately bready/grainy/creamy, and lightly sticky mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 4.8%. Overall this is a nice Northern German Altbier style. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth, flavorful, and easy to drink. Not as much hops and a bit too fruity/yeasty for the style. This was still nicely enjoyable, with plenty of rich malt flavor presence.

I picked up a bottle of Tri-City Brewing's Phoenix Golden Ale a few days ago for $1.99 at The Lager Mill. I think I tried this beer once at a beer festival, but I'm not sure, so lets see how it goes. No visible bottling date. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a imperial pint glass.

A- The label looks ok, it's a little plain and it's not too eye catching. It poured a amber orange color that takes on more of an amber color when held to the light with found fingers of fizzy tan head that died down to a thin ring that faded to nothing and it didn't leave any lacing behind. This isn't a good looking beer, it's the wrong color for a golden ale.

S- The aroma starts off with a pretty high amount of medium sweetness with some sweet caramel malty being the first to show up and it's followed by just a little bit of doughy yeast. Up next comes a slight cardboard aroma. The aroma isn't bad, but it's not what I'm looking for a golden ale.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma and it starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness with the malts being the first to show up and they impart the same aspects that they did in the aroma, but this time there is more of a caramel malt flavor that I wouldn't really expect from the style. On the finish there's no bitterness with a caramel malt aftertaste. The taste isn't that good and it's not too true to style.

M- A little smooth, very crisp, prickly, medium bodied with a high amount of carbonation. The mouthfeel isn't good, it's very over carbonated.

Overall this beer wasn't that good and it's not a good example of the style, it's not a horrible beer, but it just wasn't what I look for in the style and if I had it blind there's no way that I would know that the brewer intended it to be a Golden Ale. This beer didn't have good drinkability, the mouthfeel and taste made it hard to want to drink anymore. What I like the most about this beer is the aromas, it wasn't great, but it was the best aspect of this beer. What I like the least about this beer was the over carbonation and that it just wasn't true to style. I wouldn't buy this beer again and I can't say I would recommend it. All in all this just is what a Golden Ale should be like. It's one of my least favorite beers from Tri City and it's one of the worst Golden Ales that I've had. Better luck next time guys, this one needs some major work.