Sterling Pale Ale
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

Bright tangerine with honey colored trim. The barely one finger, off-white cap didn't look like much initially (or thereafter), but it sure did coat the glass with a thick sheet of rough-hewn lace; most of which was still present at pint's end.

The aroma was bright, clean and amazingly citrusy; lemon and orange rind especially. I was amazed to (re-)learn that Sterling is a cross between Saaz and Hallertauer. Sterling Pale Ale didn't smell like either one of those hops, at least by my nose. In fact, I had a hard time believing that I wasn't smelling Cascade or something similar.

Ditto on the taste buds. I'm sure I've run across this hop before, I just don't remember where or when. For my money, it might as well be an honorary member of the 4-Cs. Again, lemon and orange led the way, with very few other flavors following in their wake.

My uneducated guess is that nothing darker than pale or pilsener malt was used, in addition to a squeaky clean yeast strain that allowed the hops to do their thing unimpeded. As it was in the nose, so it was on the palate: simple, clean, bright and appealing. The hoppiness was moderate for the style, with a mild blip upwards on the finish.

Sometimes I prefer tap carbonation and sometimes I prefer cask carbonation. It depends on the individual beer. This is one case in which a few more bubbles might have worked better. Although the body was appropriate for a summer thirst quencher, a wee bit more heft would have been great.

Sterling Pale Ale is another single-hopped APA from my local Rock Bottom that I could drink all day and half the night. There was nothing especially flashy about it, but then all beer doesn't need to show off in order to be worthwhile.