Friday's Pale Ale Beer
Septem Microbrewery

 

 

 

 

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a medium coppery amber with a fine, off-white head with great retention and thick lacing. Aroma of dry caramel and biscuit malt, mildly citrus and grassy hops; subdued. Flavor is dry caramel and bready malt, citrus and and grassy hops, orange, grapefruit and melon. Grassy hop finish. Medium bodied with light creaminess. I think this bottle is a bit old, the hops and malt taste a little tired. There are nice fruit notes in this, but the overall character is a pilsner like pale ale with clear continental grassiness and a little fruit/citrus from Nelson Sauvin. Nice enough that I will try this again if I find it fresh, and a step up from the beers I drank decades ago in Greece, which were modest lagers. Interesting, but not memorable.

 

 

From a bottle in a hotel in Athens. Pours a clear light gold. Big white dense head leaves pretty thick lacing. Smell is light citrus. Taste is a nice balance of hops and a touch of malt. Feel has a bit more substance than a lot of beers at this ABV. Well made, seems fresh, very enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from bottle into a pint glass

Appearance – The beer pours a golden color with a two finger head of white foam. The head has a good level of retention, slowly fading to leave a decent bit of foamy island lace to linger on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma of the beer is strongest of a bready and citrusy flavor with a decent showing of yeast and a little bit of an odd marmalade aroma. Along with these smells comes some must and a little bit of hay.

Taste – The taste begins with a drier bready taste that has a decent showing of yeastiness right from the start. As the taste moves on some sweeter flavors of apricot, peach, and pear come to the tongue. Toward the very end of the flavor profile, some flavors of grain and a bit of an herbal and grassy hop come to the tongue, leaving one with a rather odd, but not bad, flavor to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is on the slightly thicker side for an only 4.7 % abv. brew with a carbonation level that is on the slightly lower side. For the mix of somewhat fruity sweet and bready, but lightly hopped and dank tastes of the brew, the feel is rather nice and creates an easy drinking base for the mix of flavors.

Overall – An odd, but decent and different pale ale. It is worth a try if you get a chance, just to see what you think…

Pours a finger and half of head on a hazy straw body.
The aroma is lots of dry grains. Nice.
The taste is "pilsner-like" with a dry bitterness, then a fairly sweet malt to finish.
The texture is light and fizzy.
It's enjoyable.

L: Slightly hazy amber color, half finger white head, messy lacing, loads of carbonation.

S: Sweet, hops.

T: Malts, hops. Tastes like an average lager.

F: Light bodied, very drinkable. Should be refreshing in the summer.

O: A very uninteresting beer.

 

Far too carbonated and a bit too much malt, but a welcome relief for a U.S. West Coast traveller far from home. I hope to see more options like this spread to this part of the world.