Flying Pig Extra Pale Ale
Blue Star Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On tap at the brewpub in San Antonio.

Appearance: Pours golden with excellent clarity. The semi-durable head leaves little lacing.

Feel: Near medium body and medium carbonation.

Flavor: Appropriately hoppy. Some malt flavor with a dominate input from hops. Medium bold for style. .

O: good but not great.

 

 

 

 

On tap at the brewpub in San Antonio, 05/15/2013.'

Looks nice enough in the pint shaker, with decent head and dark amber color. Spritzy mouthfeel and cooked rice aroma. Malty sweetness greets the lips, followed by some earthy hops and plenty of bitterness.

This tastes very grainy, like a barley stew with a little sugar and some quinine. They say it has Cascade hops, but I don't taste it. Overall, this is quite murky. It tastes refreshing at first sip on a hot day, but that odd sweet and bitter flavor gets to be unpleasant.

 

 

 

 

At brewpub in Art District, $3.75 pint in shaker glass, 6.7.12.

Half finger white head on top of medium amber chill haze body, no visible carbonation. Grassy hops and caramel malt in the nose, maybe a bit of toffee as it warmed. Taste mirrored nose, not a lot going on but fairly clean. Mouthfeel on the light side of medium, not a lot of effervescence. The epitome of mediocrity, life is too short to drink this type of beer , not in same league as other Texas Pale Ales I've tried this trip. Pass.

 

 

Second beer of the night. Had on cask into a standard shaker pint. The pint glasses at Blue Star aren’t refrigerated, thankfully, but my beer was cold. Not cool, not cellar temperature, cold. From the hand pump. But, compared to the first beer I tried I wasn’t going to complain as this struck me as a marked improvement.

Their pale ale poured a clear, golden-straw color. “Dark gold,” suggested my companion when asked for a more descriptive term. There was little to no head with some residual lacing. Little to no carbonation. Absent were the “soapy” bubbles (as I think of them) that I associate with properly conditioned cask ales.
The pale ale has a hoppy aroma that comes through. It’s probably their hoppiest beer on tap at the moment, now that I think of it. A real easy drinker. Nothing remarkable. It wasn’t bad but I probably wouldn’t order another. At least I didn’t that night. I want more cask offerings done right. At the time I wrote “I don’t think this is going to satisfy me enough to try it ever again but given my options (or lack thereof) it will have to do.” And ain’t that the truth!

As I type this up I am hitting myself for not trying a side-by-side comparison of their pale ale on draught and from the cask. But by then I joined a large party of friends and had the sort of dining experience that made me even less inclined to return. Slow service, mediocre food, and beers that just didn’t excite me? That’s a trifecta I don’t mind passing up.

On tap at the brewpub. The beer pours an orange-white color with a white head. The aroma is very well balanced. I get some caramel and toffee malt as well as some pine from the hops. The flavor is more of the same. The beer is very well balanced and the malt keeps the beer from being bitter, while still allowing some hop flavor to come through. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

On-tap at the brewpub.

Pours a slightly hazy light copper color with a one-finger off-white head. The head recedes into a thin layer on top leaving light lacing.

Smells of equal parts pale and caramel malts with a lot of diacetyl. Also present are light citrus hops but the buttery aromas really dominate.

Tastes very similar to how it smells. More caramel malt influences than in the nose and similar amounts of citrus hops. Also present, as with the nose, are large amounts of buttery diacetyl that come into play midway through the sip and carry through to a mildly bitter ending.

Mouthfeel is good. It's got a nice thickness with slick carbonation.

Drinkability is not that great. I finished my glass but the prospect of another does not excite me.

Overall I could tell there was a decent beer there but it was just too much diacetyl for my liking.

A: Pours a slightly hazy copper red color. A minimal white head forms with little lace.
S: Citrus and floral hops. Sweet caramel malt. Enjoyable.
T: Follows the nose. Citrus, and floral hops up front, and finishes with a sweet toasted malt flavor.
M/D: A medium body and carbonation. A slightly soapy and oily feel from the hops. A little thin and watery though. This is a great beer to quaff. I could drink this all day.

Very simple, but very enjoyable. I can sit out on Blue Star's deck and enjoy several of these with no problem.

Poured to an orange-amber with medium thick off-white head that lingered well and left okay lacing. Aroma was not overwhelming, but what was there was a hoppy citrus fruit with an underlying malty dark fruit and toffee. Mouthfeel was full and slightly bittersweet and the taste heightened the senses of the nose. Finish was well rounded, bringing out both the bitterness of the hops along with a touch of sweetness from the malt.

got this little guy at the blue star brewing company (beerfly coming soon) here in beautiful san antonio, finally found some good beer here in texas. looks really good, has a slightly reddish amber color like a pale ale should, and a good hoppy aroma. beer laces very well also. taste is good and crisp, not overpowering but not weak, a really well balanced beer

Decent beer. It was a little too dry for my liking when it comes to pale ales. I like the sweeter, hoppier ones out there. It definitely wasn't the worst one I've had either. Cool place to have one and the food was pretty good too. Go try out Blue Star next time you're in San Antonio.

This pale ale is a decent example of the style, but nothing to write home about. It pours a slightly hazy orange with a single finger of foam on top. Smell is of slight piney hops, with a bit of sweetness behind it. Taste is similar - some malty sweetness with an overlying hop presence. It's balanced, but it's too light in many regards. While I'm not looking for this to be an IPA, I like a bit more flavor from my pale ales. Mouthfeel was decent for the style. It was easy enough to drink, but after one, I was off to try other brews from Blue Star.

Of all the beers I had in my sampler at Blue Star brewery, the Pale was by far the least impressive. The beer's appearance is orangish amber, slightly cloudy, some lacing and retention. The aroma was a bit skunked hop and was the low point. The pale just seemed to be off, in that there was a straw taste, light body to the beer, some unpleasant aftertaste, and it just lacked balance. I couldn't figure what was wrong with this beer or what it purported to be. I did ask the brewmaster/owner about the hops used, whether the beer was dry hopped with something other than the Cascade hops it is brewed with, and just in general about the fermentation process. He told me that the pale ale has been mixed or blended, whether this meant combining newer and more aged batches, who knows. I just didn't enjoy this one.

Great head. I was excited to try this beer.

Smell was of faint pale and caramel malts with some hops.

Taste was really really average. It was dumbed down and thin on the malts with a slight dry hop bitterness to finish.

The mouthfeel was thin for a pale ale. It was sort of watery.

This beer was lackluster for a PA. There are so many pale ales out there that are superb. This one is a pass.

Tried this at the brewery, first beer I have ever tried served out of a cask. Different in that it seemed a little smoother, and defenitely a little warmer (which is a good thing) than their beer served on tap.

The taste and nose of this brew are mostly all hops. During the first part of the sip, the beer begins with a nice mix of fruity hops. As it should be for the stlye, there is a large amount of hop bitterness at the end that sticks with you even a few minutes after the sip is completed. Hardly any malt sweetness there, but there is just a tad bit to balance everything out.

This is a highly drinkable pale ale and by far the best brew I tried that Blue Star brewed (they were currently out of two beers). A typical, but very good pale ale. If it's available in the cask when you visit, be sure to get it served that way, as it's a great way to experience a beer.

This is a pretty strong pale ale, it's really bordering on being an IPA.

Pours a deep copper in color, very clear with a fizzy shortlived white head. Nose is quite hoppy, very floral and strong smelling. Taste follows suit, lots of hop bitterness and flavor, malt taking a decided backseat. A little more hoppy than I expect from a standard pale ale, so it really wasn't what I was looking for. Still a respectable brew however, quite tasty.

Slàinte!

Unfortunately, this beer experience was tainted somewhat by the servers inability to properly seal the growler. I checked some 45 minutes after purchase to find the lid still needed a good quarter turn. That said, I found this to be a decent beer.

Opened the growler 48 hours after buying it. Little carbonation left, but enough to have a 1/4" head with a direct pour down the middle. Good copper color and a nice hop aroma. Very citrusy.

Very good malt flavor that was balanced well by the hops. Fuggles? Nice finish also. Short lived, but pretty good.

Even without adequate carbonation, this is a drinkable brew. Next time I'm in SA, I'll take some time to drink some directly out of the tap.