Pallet Mallet
Al's of Hampden / Pizza Boy Brewing

JohnniEMc from Pennsylvania

3.84/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Cracked open a pint can and poured it into a clear Imperial pint mug. The liquid is a bright amber, not clear, but closer to translucent than opaque. There's only a little lasting head upon completion of the pour. It smells malty and hoppy, but it's not pungent. There's a decent malt body which starts the taste off sweetly. As the transition to hop flavors begin, a blast of alcohol almost burns the tongue. Yes, no one should expect something with an 11.9 % ABV to have little taste of it. But, this is rough to the point that even a triple hopped beer with sufficient malt can't overcome it. Unfortunately, there's too little taste of the hops that can finally come through in the finish. Even there, the alcohol pushes the sweetness of the malt a little too far. People who enjoy whiskey or other spirits may have a taste for this, but this is probably not for those that just drink beer. This puts a mallet to a pallet, but it's mostly alcohol, not hops.

Mar 16, 2021

SawDog505 from New Hampshire

4.08/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured into a 13 oz Weyerbacher tulip glass canned recently. Pours a very attractive dark amber with a 3 finger off white head that leaves behind streaks of lace.

Smell is apricot, caramel , biscuit, toffee, pine resin, and grapefruit rind.

Taste follows apricot, caramel, and toffee upfront leads to biscuit, pine, and grapefruit.

Mouthfeel is big, plenty of life, not really dry, and this is almost 12% ABV, never would have known.

Overall this is excellent, but DIPA no. Barleywine or Strong Ale would make more sense for me. Just as malty as hoppy.

May 27, 2017

MicroBeerMan1980 from Pennsylvania

4.56/5  rDev +13.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

First of all, this batch of Pallet Mallet was dry-hopped with Falconer's and Galaxy hops.

A: Honey golden and syrupy looking. White creamy head.

S: Pineapple, grapefruit, passion fruit, danky pine.

T: Sweet malts and sharp bitter notes round off this beer. Big, bold, and bitter. The pineapple and fruit lingers.

M:Big and full on the pallet. Heavy.

O: Great representation of this style. Drinkable. Boozy.

Jan 24, 2014

cyclonece09 from Wisconsin

4.06/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a 12 oz "pint" glass. Pours reddish orange with small white head. Smells of sweet citrus and flowers, very inviting. Tastes of citrus fruit and alcohol, not to bad. Beer is carbonated correctly medium bodied. Overall a very good beer.

Dec 17, 2013

orangesol from Pennsylvania

3.84/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Served on-tap at Al's of Hampden.

A - Pours slightly hazy amber orange with a foamy one finger tall white head, dissipating down to a light film, leaving spotty trails of lace down the glass.

S - Smells of sweet mildly toasted caramel, minimal booze, pine resin and moderate citric hops. I was expecting a bit more hops honestly but its still pretty nice smelling.

T - Starts off with quite a bit of caramel malt sweetness slowly giving way to hints of pine resin, citric hops, fresh grass and some light booze. Finish is pretty sweet with some lingering hop bitterness. It is decent but a little too sweet for my liking.

M - Medium body with moderate carbonation. Smooth, sweet feel with some light booze burn and a decent amount of bitterness throughout.

O - Not really sure how I feel about this one. It is pretty good but I was expecting a bit more from it. I will have to give it another chance before its all gone.

May 31, 2013

stakem from Pennsylvania

4.17/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Draft offering at Pizza Boy served in a tulip shaped pint glass. The brew appears a fairly clear amber orange color with a white cap that fades quick to a thin film. Some yellow clarity is seen around the edges.

The aroma is dank and piney with a huge hop character upfront. A bit of solvent alcohol is detected before the onset of some toasty grain that provides a subtle sweetness to the overall aromatics.

The flavor follows through with notes of bitter oily pine resin from the hops. An herbal to dank flavor hits mid-pallet before blending into rindy and pithy fruit flavors with an aftertaste that is a mix of candy-like sweetness and solvent alcohol.

This is a medium to fuller bodied brew with a modest amount of carbonation. Pizza Boy sure has a gauntlet of huge hoppy brews for hop heads to go crazy over. This brew gets style points for having a fun and fitting name but it's overall balance makes it less of a pallet destroyer when compared to say the Hopocalypse. Would drink again.

May 07, 2013