Crystal Pale Ale
Sly Fox Brewing Company

First had: on tap at Johnny Brenda's, Philly, PA

Poured into a pint glass, a clear golden orange, with a modest, off-white head that receded to a thin layer of bubbles. Toasty malts in the aroma, with floral and citrus notes coming through. Taste was not as hoppy as you would imagine from a brew that is supposedly showboating crystal hops, but after all, this is an APA not an IPA. Smooth and malty, hops were floral and mildly spicy, with some light citrus zest apparent. Light-medium mouthfeel, slightly bitter in the aftertaste, and an overall good brew.

A-Bright copper body with a small off-white head that reduced to a thin ring and left spotty lacing.

S-Lightly sweet biscuit malt upfront with a nice pop of grapefruit and floral notes.

T-Quite herbal/floral upfront with a nice backing kick of citrus in the form of grapefruit and lemon zest. Good supporting sweet biscuit malt underneath.

M-Medium light bodied fairly crisp with a nice drying finish and lingering bitterness.

D-Nice, solid, easy drinking citrus driven pale. I could certainly sit back and enjoy a few of these.

2009 Hop Project Beer

A: Crystal clear amber body. Moderate off-white head. Quickly receded to a skim. Fairly substantial lacing.

S: Soft caramel and biscuit malts. Grapefruit, grass and floral notes.

T: Clean balance of herbal/floral notes and an underlying lemon-grapefruit presence. Healthy amount of malt is also shining through. Nicely balanced.

M: Slick and smooth. Light carbonation throughout gives way to a clean, lightly bitter finish.

D: Quite nice. My #3 out of the 11 single-hop hop project beers.

Much as I like Sly Fox, I thought this one was a miss.

Pours amberish golden with a decent head. The smell is very biscuity. The taste is intensely bicuity, bready and yeasty and cramped ,with strong floral hops - rather out of balance, in fact. Not pleasant.

On tap at Coles.

Pours a clear yellowish gold, thick white head forms, slowly drops to a thick layer leaving some nice chunks of lace on the glass, good retention. Smell is nice, toasty, some caramel and biscuit, oranges, grapes, fruity, some pine, neat aroma, light but nice. Taste is similar, solid maltiness up front, caramel and biscuit, lemons, oranges, some fruit, pine, very clean bitterness. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium to high carbonation, the carbonation is too high and detracts from the drinkability. Overall a nice pale ale, I might have to get some crystal to try out in a brew.

Sly Fox- Crystal Pale Ale (Pale Ale Project)

A- Good bright copper ornage with a thick tight lacing head.
S- Bready grainy malt, slight buttery caramel, with a metallic hoppy twang.
T- Sweet creamy buttery butterscotch malt that is quickly overrun by a bitter metallic hop bite. Hops are strong and unripe?!
M- Sweet and buttery quickly becomes bold, bitter, and hoppy.

Overall- Good but I was expecting a better balance. Hops are a little too overpowering and metallic.

a: This was surprisingly dark, it was a clear copper color. It was served to me with medium sized cap of white foam.

s: This is meant to showcase crystal hops, but I got more malt than anything. Sweet grainy caramel and some faintly spicy, floral hop notes.

t: Here as well, I had a hard time picking out the hops. What I did taste reminded me of sweet apricots. This clashed a bit with the sweet caramel.

m: The carbonation was long lasting, but the lingering sweetness was a problem for me.

d: I haven't been able to try any of these hop project beers before this one. I love the idea, but this one just doesn't work for me.