McCain 2008
Half Moon Bay Brewing Co.

10/22/08- Purchased at Mollie Stones in Burlingame, CA.

Presentation- 22oz bottle, no freshness date, but assuming a recent release in the past month or so. Poured into my Stone 20oz mug.

Appearance- Light golden yellow in color. Starts out with a 1/2 inch head, fades to a very light rim. Looks a bit watery as you look towards the bottom of the beer. Lacing is pretty much non-existant.

Smell- A good amount of grain, slight corn, but not as much as other macro brews. Not really any hoppy notes a bit of toasted malt as well.

Taste- Very grainy, but different that a pils grain. Light corn taste, but still not overpowering. An actual good amount of hops noticed. Not grapefruity or anything, just a bitterness. Malty with a dry toasted flavor.

Mouthfeel- A bit watery with spritzy moderate carbonation, slight hoppy bitter aftertaste with grain in the taste as well.

Drinkability- Certainly not a "good" pale ale, it's drinkable, but nothing remotely special. Another sub-par beer from a brewery that should be noted for it's location, atmosphere and food, rather than it's beer.

Appearance: Clear pale yellow, more like a lager than an ale, with... no head? Looks like a flat Budweiser.

Smell: Canned corn. Sweet, grainy, a bit sulfuric. Pretty funky stuff - smells like bad homebrew.

Taste & mouthfeel: Sweet with unfermented wort and cooked corn. The mouthfeel is watery and oddly flat. Buttery slickness plagues the finish of this trainwreck of a beer. They call this an ale, but it tastes more like a bad macro lager. Horrible stuff. If this is their way of supporting McCain, it was surely a colossal failure.