Pale Ale
Humboldt Brewing Company

Yellow, a head formation that lacks uniformity. Aroma was neutral.

Taste had some bitterness, crystal and brown malt, a little heavy for a pale ale. Morphs into toffee and tea like notes downbottle.

This was a weird one, it was just as much a brown ale as it was a pale ale.

 

 

 

Yellow beer, some clumpy head that don't leave a uniform lace pattern, dat's fo sho. Aroma was standard barley and minimal hops.

Taste, simplistic and straight up, usual suspects of caramel and grapefruit laying low, but around. Cascade hops, old tea like flavor gives it a weird mouthfeel though.

A little more expensive ($9/6) than it should be, given that there isn't a whole lot going on, nothing bad, something kinda off, but not bad, but not rushing out for it or recommending it to anyone if they start making it again.

12oz bottle. Clear amber-gold with a white head; some sediment. Smells like nectar, honey, and flowers. Sweet like honey flavor, with a little hop balance, but definitely a mild pale ale. Nice malt fruitiness, but could use a little more hop bite and bitterness. Light body with smooth carbonation, and a slight stickiness. Really fruity and sweet for an apa, but pretty drinkable.

Poured a golden amber color with a massive head and its remains create fine sheets of lace to cover the glass. Nose is hopped and floral with pleasing malt sweetness, crisp and fresh to the senses. Front lightly sweet and the top skinny in feel. Finish is pertinent in its carbonation, the hops dominant and the aftertaste dry.

12oz bottle into nonic.

Hazy golden amber hue (almost the color of nectar), with a one finger off-white head that leaves behind some stringy lacing.

Sweet honey malts with some citrusy hop aroma.

Crisp malts with a light sweet hop flavor. It tastes good but it's a little light. When I taste it, the word "nectar" comes to mind. The name seems to match this beer perfectly. Medium bodied with a good amount of carbonation. The finish is lingering hop flavor.

This isn't exactly a beer to rave about but I feel it's certainly worth the buy. Makes a good session ale. Recommended.

Poured from a newer looking green label bottle to a pint glass, the liquid is a clear pale gold with OK carbonation. The head is a smallish 1 thumb thick white and does not leave lace.

The smell is a fresh citrus hop.

The taste follows and is nice, a refreshing citrus hoppy taste with a light toast flavor in the malt.

The mouthfeel is ok not quite medium body and a little light on the carbonation.

The drinkability is good and the taste is its best feature. MK

Pint at a bar in Tustin before the Angels game

Very golden yellow pour with a small white head that dropped down fast

Taste was a little hoppy and bitter at the same time, comparable to Stone's APA

Nice mouthfeel for a pale ale and highly drinkable by most

Pretty average beer

Poured into a DFH off center glass a nice light amber with a decent head that slowly diminished and left some spotty lacing. The aroma was of caramel malt nicely balanced with citrusy hops. The taste was an extremely unique balance of citrusy hops with caramel malts and just a hint of chocolate. The beer was light bodied and proved to be very refreshing. This is one of the best APAs I've had the pleasure of trying, I hope it finds it's way to NC sometime soon.

Clear, light golden color with a nice white head that retains well and does manage to leave some lacing. I get some citrus, lemon, a touch of grapefruit, and just a hint of pine. The aroma also has a little bit of bread and biscuit notes. Taste contains some biscuit and caramel, followed quickly by citrus-y hops. Mouthfeel is a little less than medium with medium levels of carbonation followed by a dry finish. This one didn't finish up as well as I would have liked, but it is pretty nice beer here. I'd probably get this from time to time if it were available to me.

The head is thin with bigger bubbles and that falls into a thin layer atop the beer. There is a lacing, but it doesn't stick all of the time. Color is very clear gold. The smell is hoppy, I smell dill for some reason, don't know if it's the new craving for dill pickle chips or not. Smell is slightly dank, grassy hops. A slight citrus character comes through. The taste is very dank, almost moldy. There's an aftertaste of breadiness....reminds me of golden grahams. Graham crackers anyway. Mouthfeel isn't offensive and it's got a bit of a refreshing feel to it, and it's smooth. Overall I think this would be a good go to brew if I lived in CA, but I don't think long trips are good for this brew.

Served on-tap in a 16oz pint glass

Appearance: Orangy, copper color with nice lacing off-white head

Smell: Faint citrus but not much there

Taste: Sufficiently dry hops flavor with nicely balanced malt qualities

Mouthfeel: Lightly carbonated with smooth finish, best feature of this beer

Drinkability: The mouthfeel and taste make this a likely repeat performer

12 oz. bottle into a pint glass. I hope this is the same brew that says "Pale Nectar" on top of the bottle.

Appearance: A golden peach-tinged yellow with a head that leaves just a bit of combo spotty and sheet-like lacing, and though it doesn't stay thick, it tends to remain hovering above the body for the duration.

Smell: Sweet caramel malt with some unsweetened chocolate coupled with nice orange and grapefruit oils from the hops. Very aromatic, balanced, and seemingly made with some quality stuff.

Taste: Though the caramel malt sweetness is buried a bit (along with some chocolate and tea flavors), the orange and the grapefruit from the hops comes out well and not only coats the mouth, but also lingers well on the tongue, where the malt flavors then come out, oddly enough, leaving some nicely balanced flavors behind altogether.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied, with a coating quality that is pretty outstanding, not to mention carbonation levels bringing out all the flavors accurately without losing anything.

Drinkability: A pale ale that refuses to get flashy and try a lot of experimentation, and I think that helps, as everything's honed well to seemingly make the best thing from quality ingredients--something that a lot of breweries need to take note, because this is good stuff.

6/28/2005 $6.99 6 pack No best by date.

Appearance:

Pours a pale straw/gold with a thin film of bubbles on top, but no head to speak of.

Aroma:

Fresh citrus sweetness (grapefruit) greets the nose with some floral quality as well.

Taste/Mouthfeel:

Mouthfeel is fairly smooth with crisp citrus highlights piquing the taste buds accompanied by a strong malt backbone that balances things out nicely. Finish is grapefruit in nature, stretching into a mildly bitter end.

Humboldt has been one of those breweries that to me is somewhere between average and good. This brew is on their "good" side of the lineup. Poured into a pilsner glass it formed an easily managed perfect head that fades rather quickly retianing a ring lacing and thin cover. Pale to light copper in color and small carbonation are plentiful.

Hops are up front in the smell and taste. Whats nice about this pale is the malt bill has enough in it to make this rather hoppy Pale into a session quality brew. Damn I love a finely crafted low alcohol brew and this one fits the bill. Hops have a little bit of that "raw" edge.

Notes: I think this is humboldt's best offering that I've been able to sample. I only see it now and again at my local beer stops. Seems to be hit or miss with availability. This will be another staple beer in my fridge.

My bottle was called Pale Nectar from Nectar Ales, but I guess this is the same stuff. 12 oz. stubby with 11/23/05 on the bottle. It pours a nice honey/orange color that looks unfiltered (hop particles?) and smells very hoppy, with notes of citric/tropical fruits, pine, perfume, and hop oils. The taste is about the same with a medium bitterness, a mild malt background, and a medium body that is a bit drying. Overall an average craft APA I would say - a good quaffer, but nothing spectacular.

no freshness date
“All Natural Ale”

Pours a hazy golden color with a thick head of off white, medium bubbles. Aroma is citrus with light grapefruit and a hint of orange.

Taste is light and refreshing. Hints of the citrus and bitterness stay throughout the taste and in to the finish. Long, light bitterness in the aftertaste.

A good, non-offensive session beer. But not something I would session since it was $1.99 for one 12oz bottle. Much better choices in this area in this style.

"Pale Nectar" brewed by Nectar Ales (Firestone Walker), Paso Robles, CA

Hazy golden with a nice full off-white head and good carbonation. Nice fruity hop aroma; not overpowering. Nicely balanced malt-hop flavor with a light citrusy hop character. Medium-light bodied with a light crisp hop finish.

Good but probably not a re-buy... Not too much different than Red Nectar ... very well balanced but something's missing...

Per NA website:
Centennial, Cascade and Mt. Hood hops.
Gold - 2003 GABF

($1.99 / 12 oz.)