American Pale Ale
Jefferson St. Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

American Pale Ale, on tap at Jefferson St. Brewing Company, as part of a tasting flight. This review is a few months old, but I'm just now catching up on my backlog from this particular period.

Appearance: A solidly orange, copper, amber hue, topped by a good half-finger of lightly tanned head with good retention that leaves good sheets of lace. Clear enough to reveal a few streams of average sized effervescence zipping up towards the surface.

Aroma: A very herbal nose, spicy and minty, but with dollops of citrus and a faint waves of pine, accompanied by a very dry caramel malt underpinning.

Taste: That's a little more like it. Bright floral hop notes and high citrus peel - orange mainly - overtones compliment faint mintiness and a mild bitterness in a dry but roasted malt environment. Nothing's too over the top here, but the hops here pack a solid flavor wallop.

Mouthfeel: Again a little overcarbonated, which seems to be the biggest problem I'm noticing in these beers thus far, but very even, making for a bright, light, assertive mouthfeel, crisp and well-adjusted in terms of the flavor components.

Drinkability: The best beer of the day, by far, and the one I'd go back here for if I was stopping through. 5.3% for a drinkable APA is a good deal, and the hop notes here - while they won't win any national awards - are very solid for a local central VA brew. Recommended.

A-Bright copper with a thin, off-white head that left a surprising amount of webby lace.

S-Quite floral with a touch of citrus and a nice, lightly sweet caramel malt base.

T-Sharp herbal and floral (with a hit of perfume) notes. Hop bite is well balanced by a soothing, lightly sweet caramel malt base.

M-Medium-light to medium bodied quite crisp with good lingering hop bitterness with a drying finish.

D-Without question an APA with plenty of hops for even the fussiest hop snob. A present, but not overwhelming, caramel malt base balances things well. This one was much better than I expected.

On tap @ the Jefferson St. Brewing Company (Lynchburg, VA) on 2/6/10.

Pours a clear copper, with a creamy bright-white head that leaves a good bit of frothy lacing behind. The aroma has a freshly floral hop bouquet going on with it, with a solid little layer of pine and spice giving this some zip in the nose. Some tropical fruit character and sticky malts give this an underpining of sweetness.

The taste is full of fresh American hops, which are prickly in the mouth with pine and dry spiciness. Fruit and caramel malts gives this some sweet backing balance but the hops return strong in the finish with a deep parching dryness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, with a mouth filling creaminess to it that then gets a little slicker on the sides from the hop oils that are present. Very smooth and easy in the mouth.

This was nice. Just a load of fresh hop character here, along with a crisp feel and a very easygoing nature to the body. This was a tasty APA that I would drink a pint of any day.