Stellar Phase Pale Ale
South County Brewing Co.

Another session beer that is blurring the line between higher ABV PA's and IPA's?

Stellar Phase is a great tasting PA, that has a boatload of flavors going in and out. Plenty of mild fruit and juiciness that blend together well. For me, the kicker was the difference from the cold-to-warm(er) transition. While some beers lose their identity.. Stellar Phase just shifts into another gear. Impressing.

A very good NEIPA. However, this one could benefit from a little more nose and that pillowy feel. Good taste here and not at the expense of drinkability. Would definitely revisit this guy.

Nice pale straw hazy. Really nice tropical flavor. Very easy to drink.

 

Soft, lush, and enticing; quite delicate. I tasted lots of melon and tropical fruit plus just a little bit of a spicy, peppery bite at the end. Enjoyed on draft, I could see multiple cans disappearing quickly on a hot day. My second from these folks and I look forward to more.

I thought that I had exhausted my inventory of South County CANs last month during my brewery horizontal, but lo & behold, while doing some rearranging in my cellar's BeerFrigerator (a reefer only, NO freezer compartment), I found two (2) more for The CANQuest (tm)! Zounds!

From the CAN: "Drink Fresh Do Not Age Please Recycle Always Keep Cold"; "Pour into a glass for best drinking experience".

Proving that I CAN follow directions, I Crack!ed open the vent & beCAN a slow, gentle C-Line Glug into the awaiting glass. I was rather pleasantly surprised by its formation of two-pus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with excellent retention. Color was a faintly-hazy Straw-Yellow (SRM = > 2, < 4). Nose was fruity with a CANtaloupe-honeydew prevalence acCANponied by a lighter tropical fruitiness. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste remained primarily of melon with a tropical fruit acCANponiment, but I also got an earthy pepperiness, like a fresh-picked pepper from my neighbor's garden. Mmm. It was an interesting taste, overall, but it is tough when the style's guide-on bearer is SNPA & by CANparison, this was nothing & nowhere close. Finish was semi-dry, making for a pleasant quaff, but it just was not my cuppa joe. YMMV.

Thank you Bl00 for this
16 oz can, dated 4/24/20, poured into a teku

A- A hazy golden straw with a three finger white head.

S- Grapefruit, limes, citrus, pineapple, some melons, slightly dank.

T- Citrus, some tropical fruits, a little dank, some melons, touch of pale malts.

M- Smooth, light to medium body.

O- A tasty and easy to drink hazy pale, nice balance of flavors.

Fingers worth of crisp perfectly uniform pure white head... The color is a pale hazy yellow... A hop forward nose with alternating whiffs of lite pine and orange zest... A unique flavor profile with some unexpected notes of seltzer water...
Medium bodied and dense with an odd soapy character... A little rough around the edges, but decent enough...

 

Poured from a can into a pint glass. Pours cloudy yellow orange with a fluffy white head. Smells of tropical and citrus hops, very inviting. Tastes of citrus and slight tropical hops, with slight sweet grain. Beer is light bodied and very easy drinking, good carbonation. Overall, a very good beer.

The weather outside today is beautiful. The beer today is a pale ale from South County. My first beer from this brewery. The beer is 45 degrees and served in a pint glass. The head of the beer is massive, like three-finger thick. The head left a tremendous amount of lacing all over the glass. The color of the beer is SRM 4 a pale straw with a touch of light gold. The beer is hazy with no clarity. Overall this is one beautiful beer.

The aromas in the beer are a biscuit note, herbal, floral esters, grapefruit, pine, resin, toasted malts, and a hint of earthiness.

The flavors in the beer are lemon, oranges, floral esters, bay leaves, biscuit note, pine, resin, and toasted malts.

The mouthfeel of the beer is carbonated, somewhat astringent, and coating.

The body of the beer is medium, medium-plus carbonation, and a medium finish.

The beer is good but not stellar. I enjoy the flavor profiles in the beer, just wanted more strength in the flavors. Overall, this beer is a great starting beer for the day. I enjoyed the artwork on this beer.

Pours our beautiful. It’s not a really thick haze, but completely hazy and forms a nice, dense, one finger width crown. Leaves nice, sticky lacing all the way through.

The nose brings a surprising old school presence mixing with newer ways. Some pine and citrus.

The taste comes in much lighter, bringing a cracker presence along with a huge, juicy melon aspect. Really don’t know if I’ve ever picked up melon with such a prominence before; watermelon even.

The mouthfeel is where is somewhat. It’s light and refreshing, would be great for a hot summer day at the lower ABV. But I would just like a little more body to accompany that melon profile.

Overall though, it’s a pretty impressive pale ale.

I was a bit surprised by this one - quite on the fence between IPA and traditional American Pale Ale, it's just a bit hazy, but moderately more carbonated than most NE IPAs. The taste features plenty of citrus, tangerine notes - very refreshing and clean. Not much in the way of identifiable hops or bitterness to the presence though - just that nice citrus presence. Nice finish. Quite sessionable as well - not at all filling and very drinkable.

Recommended.

 

 

 

 

Very solid new school Pale Ale... where the PA ends and the IPA begins I have no idea