Sunseeker Tangerine Pale Ale
Lake of Bays Brewing Company

Hazy pale orange with a strong head. Pure tangerine nose. Light body with tangerine peel bitterness, not overpowering. A fun, summer brew.

 

 

473 ml can served cold into a tulip. LCBO purchase for around $3.25 CDN. Another tangerine inspired pale ale to try.

Appearance - Mostly clear, rich golden color with and element of honey brown in the light. A small half finger of head is poured and fizzles away inside of a couple of minutes. Modest carbonation.

Smell - Tangerine for sure, surprisingly robust, but the tangerine seems like an additive rather than brewed. Nonetheless it's pretty pleasant. Some light grainy malts in the background.

Taste - Like the nose, with the same surprisingly intense tangerine flavor, that is distinctly tangerine. Not orange. Enough malt backing to have this come through balanced, just bitter enough and fruity enough.

Mouthfeel - Medium-light bodied, carbonation is fairly expressive, a little bit stickier than I'd expect a sub 5.0% ABV beer to be.

Overall - Better than I'd thought it would be and was an improvement on the Broadhead Tangerine Beer I enjoyed a couple of weeks ago. A good summer beer. Worth a try as this is one of LOB's better offerings.

473 mL can from the LCBO; dated Feb 19 2019 and served barely chilled. I reviewed this right after sampling a can of their Paddle On Session Ale, for the sake of comparison - though I couldn't find any (fresh) Broken Axe, which was my first choice for 'control beer'.

Pours a clear, sunny golden blonde colour, with a half finger of frothy, soapy white head that lasts for a minute or two before fizzling off entirely. A messy ring of lace hangs just above a bubbly collar; looks like your typical pale and/or blonde ale to me. The tangerine does translate quite nicely into the aroma - a bit juicy, but with oily orange peel also figuring in strongly. Hints of stone fruit are also discernible, with very subtle accents of wheaty, grainy pale malts.

A mostly agreeable, relatively one-dimensional brew. Its malt backbone is grainy, with hints of wheat and honeyed sweetness, but it's the tangerine flavour that comes through mostly clearly - though it doesn't come off as very 'authentic' (i.e. it's not that hard to tell that it's a flavouring extract). Pithy, oily grapefruit and orange peel continue to lead the way towards the finish, though hints of earthy, resiny, vaguely piney hop bitterness do eventually join the fray, preceding a resiny, earthy aftertaste. Light in body, with a slick, slippery mouthfeel and low carbonation levels that aren't particularly well suited to a light, fruity ale. In any event, it's easy enough to drink, without being especially refreshing.

Final Grade: 3.60, a B grade. Sunseeker Tangerine Pale Ale is a decent citrus-themed pale ale; one that isn't likely to ruffle too many feathers, or raise too many eyebrows for that matter. I just couldn't get past the inauthenticity of the citrus flavour here - no, it's not exactly offensive or anything, but it's not what I'm looking for - not in a pale ale, or even in a fruit beer, really. I'd take Broken Axe or Paddle On over this, but I wouldn't turn down another can if offered.

 

Moderate head, clear golden coloured brew, some lace. Moderately hoppy nose, not a lot by way of tangerine. Taste is bitter hops, a hint of malt. No tangerine until the end and then quite subdued. This is basically a simple variant of their standard pale ale which I didn't find much better than average.

Perfect balance between the tangerine and the bitterness of the Pale Ale.
May 5 2019