Oregon Pale Ale (OPA)
Fire Mountain Brew House

 

 

 

Really pleasant sweet malt flavor with just enough hoppy bitterness to make for a mellow mouthful. Aroma of grain. Tastes just like crunching on a few kernels of Crystal malt.

Clear amber color with a reddish cast in the St. Bernardus globe. Adequate swirl of lacing and modest head. Tangy and spritzy on the tongue. Roasted malt and caramel dominate the proceedings. Surprisingly rich for the medium ABV. A pleasant mouthful of flavor.

A sweeter and maltier style of Pale Ale, but a welcome change from the harsher over-hopped versions I often encounter. From the 22 oz bottle purchased at Market of Choice on 29th in Eugene.

 

 

 

 

A good friend recently visited Oregon, knowing I like a good beer, she brought back a bottle for me to enjoy. A new favorite of hers.

A - My favorite part of this beer, excellent head retention and lacing. Pale amber color, completely see through. Poured into a Sierra Nevada pint glass with a hop etched into the bottom for bubbly goodness.

S - Not much on the nose unless I'm stuffed up today. A bit malty character, but that's all.

T - Light beer with a good bit of malt flavor, nothing over powering, well balanced. The tiniest hint of hop. Your classic Pale Ale, perfect example.

M - A session beer worthy of hanging out with the guys. Velvety smooth as it goes down.

 

It's great to see another Oregon brewery's wares here in NC.Poured into an imperial pint glass a somewhat murky burnt orange with a thinner quick to fade white head atop.Big time fuity esters in the nose,really juicy and bursting out at ya,caramel/biscuit and and somewhat assertive leafy hops linger.Again the fruity tones are the main component on the palate,sweet caramel doughiness and a hopped up leafy finish rounds out the beer.Yeah this is an ESB, a very good American version of one,I could drink a whole lot of this stuff.

amber in color with a smooth, even, head of white on top that faded off after a couple of moments. Light lacing was left by the side. Aroma is bready, hints of caramel and grassy notes and warming brought out tons of grains. Light, crisp and clean taste, light grassy hops and a smooth even caramel malt base made up the bulk of the profile. Light body, nice carbonation and a smooth even and clean finish.

I picked up a bottle of this beer at Brideport Village. I was seeking something I hadn't had. Label lets me know it uses Cascade hops. Poured into a 20oz. pint glass. 22oz bottle.

A: Not a very carbonated beer. A little darker and more cloudy then I might expect from a pale. A look that kind of says oomph.

S: Not tons of nose on this thing either. A slightly sweet aroma with a malty character coming thru.

T: A much more English style pale then I was expecting. A subdued hops flavor is more then balanced with a blend of european and american malts.

M: Rich feel on the palate. This is a beer I'd love to try this on a cask system. Smooth taste.

D: Feels like it fills you up & has a relatively low abv. Small Brewery so I'd have another with a better idea what I was getting. This a nice fish and chips pairing.

Another from the stash Tyler grabbed for me. Poured into 10oz glass. Poured a very dark amber/ light brown (way too dark for a "Pale" Ale) with a tall fluffy light khaki head that had outstanding retention and medium lacing.

The aroma had a noticeable hop scent upfront, but was pretty well balanced overall. The taste was also very well balanced, a good blend of malt and hops. The beer had a bit of a tangy citrus finish.

The body was nicely full and well-rounded. Drinkability was very good, I split this 22 with a couple friends and was left wishing I'd kept more for myself.

Overall, a pretty nice take on the style, worth trying if you see it.

22 Oz Bomber from Roth's Vista Market, Salem. Strange yet appealing appeearance for an Oregon PA.. Dark amber,almist brown and slightly hazy with a light tan quater inch bubbly head. Very malty, bready aromas, with a tinge of hop in the back. Nice malty taste too semi-sweet ,hint of cocoa then a pleasing mellow yet very noticable hoppiness underneath..that grows to the end. Nice and smooth on the palate , easily drinkable stuff. Overall an unusually "English" Pale Ale for Oregon. Balanced and drinkable. I liked It.

22 oz. bottle poured to a pint glass; half-consumed pre-dinner, the rest matched very well with the fresh Dungeness crabs we picked up earlier today. As with the Steam Fired Stout I reviewed earlier, bottles of OPA are steadily creeping into the Portland market, and have been since November.

Though the name on the label is 'Oregon Pale Ale' (my impulse was, naturally, to wager 'American Pale Ale'), the brewer self-described this to me as most similar to an ESB or an English Pale, but that ESB was closest...

A: Very pretty, a deep copper that glows in light and would be 'clear' if not for the finest haze distorting my hand ever-so-slightly through the glass. Crowned with a fingers-worth of sandy foam, a bubbly sponge but quick to fall to a dotted film and slim ring. Some carbonation shows, nothing too vigorous nor glass-filling. Lace in small dabs, ghostly bands.

S: Light sweetness of cereal grain, a little stronger but also sweeter than expected - though there are hops, they're tough to pick out. C'mon nose!

T: Toasted breadcrust, dry crackers, burst of pale malt that has some flowery, earthy and honey-sweet tones to match with an abrupt dryness in the finish. A mild lemony bite in the finish, too, vaguely pithy to further round off the malty sugars. Lovely balance.

M: Seems a bit soft, slick even, with the first couple sips, then a deeper spice/grain husk bitterness builds and lingers. The result is refreshing and rather light-bodied, smooth at the edges.

D: VERY easy to drink. The kind of flavorful pale that might well go in the regular rotation. An affordable option that's nice because of its subtle complexities and its modest ABV/high 'drinkability'. Won't wow the hop-lovers, but for my money it's a damn nice brew.

And for what it's worth, this is review #999 for me...oh, so close!