Pale Ale | Upslope Brewing Company - Lee Hill

3.5/5  rDev -3%

3.5/5  rDev -3%

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Review from BeerAdvocate Magazine Issue #41 (Jun 2010):

More craft in cans! Not as crisp as expected, nor is the head as large as expected, but nearly clear and pretty smooth. Doughy malt and citric zest-like hops in the nose. Bitterness is modest and balancing at first, but sip after sip, it tingles and coats more. Fine and clean alcoholic ester rides along with that hop character. A bit raw, but relatively clean. Maltiness ranges from grassiness to a nutty, bready flavor. Brewed to style rather than trying to be something it is not. Defining canned craft in a great way!

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3.33/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Nothing like getting a new canned brew from a brewery I haven't heard of in a trade, thanks vasdef42! Pours into my glass a orange-ish yellow with good clarity and a half inch of white bubbles on top. Aromas of crisp malt that's slightly toasty and bready. Mild herbal, floral hops with a kiss of citrus. Slightly spicy but the overall aroma is a bit too muted.

First sip brings crisp toasty, bready malts upfront segueing into herbal, somewhat citrus hops that also carries some spiciness as well. Good balance between sweetness and bitterness here. Would have like a bit more of a hop flavor here.

Mouthfeel is on the lighter side with fast moving carbonation. Could use a bit more body here but as is it is quite easy to drink and session-able. Overall, I'd say Pale Ale is a hard style to crack as Sierra Nevada holds the gold standard in my book for a readily available session pale ale. This one could use a bit more hops and a bit more body. Glad to see a new CO brewery and hope to taste more from them as they grow!

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3.86/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75

Pours from the can a clear gold with a slightly off-white head that leaves spotty lacing.
The aroma is a bit subdued. Floral and citrus notes with a bit of biscuit and spice.
Taste is light citrus with biscuit and a bit of grassy hops and a lingering, slightly bitter pith.
Mouthfeel is light and bubbly with a clean and crisp finish.

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3.25/5  rDev -10%

3.08/5  rDev -14.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

12 oz can. Pours a clear golden yellow with a smallish white head that goes to a thin film that leaves some lacing.

The aroma is sweet wheaty caramel malts with some grassy fruity hops. It's pretty subdued.

The flavor is sweet caramel malts and some fruits with a minty twang to it. It has a grassy bitterness in the finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with smooth carbonation.

Overall, an OK pale. It's very similar to their IPA with less bitterness. The mintiness is still a bit odd and similar to the IPA.

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4/5  rDev +10.8%

3.75/5  rDev +3.9%

2.91/5  rDev -19.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

I received a can of Upslope Pale Ale in a trade on reddit, and unfortunately, I did not like it very much. The pale ale looked pretty good, a light amber color with a little white head that stuck to the glass leaving a pale on the glass as I drank. The smell was mostly bready malt with a little green hop aroma. The taste really let me down. The bitterness was definitely not enough for the style and the hop flavor was passive--grassy and woody, not citrusy and bold as I expected. The was a little sweet upfront, but dry in the finish, but just weird. As it warmed up, I liked it more, but overall, I would not want to have this again

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3.75/5  rDev +3.9%

3.85/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75

3.7/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

First time I've seen this one outside of Boulder so I picked up one of this and one of their IPA. There are some great pale ale/ipa/dipa available in cans around (speaking of dale's and gordon, of course) here so this will have a lot to live up to.

Can states it was made with snow melt - seems a little cheesy and gimicky.

Pours into a pint glass a pale golden yellow color. Good clarity and head sticks around a while. No lacing to be seen.

Aroma is mildly hoppy overtones on top of a very bland (i.e. cereal) malt backbone. Not very impressive so far.

Flavor is better than expected but still nothing special. Good balance and the hops are a little more forward than in the nose. A little spicy and a little sweet.

Mouthfeel is medium-light in body and moderate carbonation. Good balance, like I said.

Overall it's not bad but, then again, it's not that special or unique either. With all of the amazing pale ales and IPAs available these days, you need to have a pretty great product to break into the market on those two alone. Hopefully they will do some other styles and really knock it out of the park with those!

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3.5/5  rDev -3%

4/5  rDev +10.8%

Smooth with a good fruit hops. Medium bitter aftertaste

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3.68/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

3.78/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Overall a milder and more session-friendly pale ale. Reminds me of the old GD Denver Pale Ale. The hops are a mild of herbal spice and grapefruit. A smooth brew, with a creeping subtle bitterness. I only get a light hit of the toasty malts. This would probably be a fun cask beer, there's a lot going on but it's subtle.

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3.7/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

One finger of head on a medium straw colored body.
Smell is a subtle grapefruit and pine. It's nice.
Great flavor of lemon, grapefruit and mild malt.
Fizzy texture in the best way. Moderate carbonation and medium body.
The texture and flavor combine well together and make it a beer to find and try.

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3.5/5  rDev -3%

4.25/5  rDev +17.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

3.92/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Upslope Pale pours a clear golden color with an off white head.

The aroma is of doughy malt and crisp citrus hops.

Taste follows in suit with citrus and slightly grassy hops with a doughy and biscuity malt balancer.

This beer is highly drinkable and sessionable. Upslope Pale Ale uses pilsner malt which lightens up the body and increases drinkability and also allows the hops to shine through.

Overall, I love this offering. It is light and sessionable, nice on a hot day, and getting warm in my golf bag actually increases the hop characteristic a bit.

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3.57/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Got this from Bitterbill, cheers Bill! Review based on notes

Pours a light straw color with 3 fingers of pearl colored head. Average head retention & lacing

S: Grassy & piney hops, faint breadyness

T: Bready with citrussy hops & a flinty dryness up front. Breadyness along with pineyness & lemony hops as this warms. Finishes with grassy & mineral hop notes & slight breadyness

MF: Light bodied, with soft carbonation & good balance

Drinks easy, but could've used more flavor across the board, these guys aren't cause much concern for OB any time soon from what I can see...

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3.56/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

3.35/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

3.5/5  rDev -3%