Golden Ale
The St. George Brewing Company

 

L-Dark, clear amber. light cream head.
S-Pine and floral hops
T-Moderate/mildly bitter hops and sweet bready malt.
F-Light/medium body, moderate carbonation. A bit dry with floral hop bitterness on the finish.

A pretty decent beer. Nonetheless, less drinkable than it could be for my taste--the malt profile seems more earthy, bready, and full than many in the style and I would have preferred it be more prominent over the hops.

Mild grain aroma, pours amber with a thin white head. Mild grain notes, with a touch of yeast coming through. Light bodied, and very little hop presence. Based on the name of the beer, I would guess this is more of a blonde then an APA. Mild body, easy drinking.

From the bottle, it pours a golden amber with a nice thick off-white head. In the nose, a pleasant scent of malt and a tiny bit of hops. In the mouth, the malty flavor comes through.

 

L) Pours with an ok head and minimal lacing. On the darker side of golden, pouring an amber going into copper.

S) A lovely citrus filled hop profile can be smelled, with a small amount of spice rounding it out. As I understand it, this is made with American hops, but it does come across as more traditional Brittish hops.

T) The taste is well rounded. Lovely clean malts with nutty notes of toffee balancing out citrus and resin.

F) The beer has a medium carbonation and body.

O) This is a decent APA, but for my money, I'd snag their English IPA

 

Pours a clear maize color. Two inch head of an off-white color. Great retention and good lacing. Smells of yeast, sweet malt, slight pale malt, floral hops, hint of spice, and a hint of alcohol. Fits the style of an American Pale Ale. Mouth feel is sharp and crisp, with a high carbonation level. Tastes of yeast, sweet malt, slight pale malt, floral hops, and a hint of alcohol. Overall, good appearance, blend, and aroma.

 

 

 

 

 

12 oz bottle into a teku.

Appearance: Pours a slightly hazy copper color. Sorry, but this isn't very 'golden'. The head is a finger high and off-white in shade. Retention isn't great, but a consistent ring of lacing sticks to the glass. (3)

Smell: This has a very earthen tone to it, perhaps as expected. There are also some crackery, bread-like malts to go with the earthy hops. I'm a little disappointed that the ale esters don't pop well. Come to think of it, they don't pop well at first. Letting this open up will unfurl notes of apricot, lemon, and peach - the longer I wait, the fruitier this becomes. Patience is a virtue with this beer. It doesn't seem overly impressive at first, but I really grow to enjoy this beer's aroma after a while. (3.5)

Taste: The malts come out at first. I get lots of toffee, marzipan, graham cracker, and sugar cookie in particular. Touches of diacetyl also appear (never growing out of control). Letting it sit on the palate will reveal the estery presence. Though it's subtle, it does offer a nice peachy, almost marmalade-like character on the back end. This beer does a nice job of invoking apricot jam spread on graham crackers really well. Yeah, I do enjoy this one, quite a bit in fact. (3.5)

Mouthfeel: Not the driest or most crisp brew I've ever had, it still has a nice fullness and good carbonation to will it down easily. This is more of a steady sipper than a chugger. While drinkability isn't the best, I still want to steadily put this away - so it's definitely doing something right. (3.5)

Overall: It's not often one finds an English-style golden ale brewed on these shores! To me, this is closer to an ESB than a golden ale - but an ESB that's actually good instead of a storm of crystal malt messiness. While I wouldn't go seeking this out regularly, it's a fun curiosity worth one's time. (3.5)

3.47/5: More UK golden ales, please!

 

Poured from a bottle into a stemmed vase, the beer is a vibrant honey-gold coloring, with a low profile, fluffy, white head. Aromas of toasted grains, subtle honey and caramel, and subtle floral notes. Flavors are heavily roasted, with tangy honey sweetness, bitter hops backbone, and not much else. The body is light, but smooth, with a dryness that comes along with the hops bitterness. The aftertaste is more of the roasted sweetness, with the tangy honey notes lingering on past the light, smooth finish.

 

Enjoyed from the 12 oz bottle from a good Doctor friend. Thanks Chris!

Ale pours a rustic, luminous light amber with a nice off white head of big bubbled foam that lingers long with nice lacing. Nose of sweet grains, light floral hops, and sweet caramel malts. Flavors follow the nose with an abundance of floral hops, honey, caramel, and a moderate grain note that comes in on the back. Crisp mouth feel and good carbonation makes this n ideal session brew that finishes with a nice floral hop character that fades to a spicy hop note. Very nice.

Cheers!