Foothill Route 66 Pale Ale
Bayhawk Ales

 

22 oz. bomber found at Liquorama in Upland, CA for $3.99. Minimal information on the label aside from the brewer, the typical gov'ment stuff, and artwork showing the San Gabriel Mountains in all their glory, just as seen above the store roof looking north. Just kidding- doesn't look like that- looks more like the Rockies. Does Route 66 go through the Rockies?

Pours a cloudy but decent looking orange-amber, with a pretty head that leaves nice layers and lacing down the glass. Aroma was strong and solid, by far the best feature of this beer. Slightly sweet bread with a very specific hop (herbal and pine-like) punch.

But the flavor shut me down almost immediately. An acidic, astringent mouthfeel with a medicinal flavor that was like chewing on pungent greens in a fancy restaurant where they serve lawn clippings and call it a salad. Not to be mean, but I just don't like it. I continued drinking it, hoping it would mellow out and I would find it's wonderful hidden character, but all I can say is that this one is not for me. I like Bayhawk beers, but not this one!

Hazy orange-amber, perhaps even orange-copper; it's a little hard to tell without the benefit of sunlight. The golden beige cap sports innumerable glassy bubbles on its lumpy, bumpy, increasingly rocky surface. I'm impressed by how much lace is currently coating the upper reaches of the glass.

The nose was better from a distance than it is up close. Although it's somewhat hoppy, it lacks a certain vibrancy. I have no idea what makes up the hop bill, but it smells like good ol' Cascade is the ringleader. Orange and lemon are at least as prominent as grapefruit, if not more so.

The flavor is along the same lines as the nose: good, but far from special. The malt backbone is just sturdy enough to support the amount of hops that have been used. In addition to pale malt, it tastes like a fair amount of something darker has been used as well. There's nothing wrong with a caramel-heavy APA, although I like the malt to keep a lower profile in beer of this style.

Route 66 is impressively bitter. Unfortunately, it isn't an especially well-supported bitterness. As a result, the beer tastes a trifle ragged and unfinished. There's enough good hop flavor for me to consider it above average, but non-hopheads should consider themselves warned.

I had hoped that the metallic nature of the flavor would have faded by now, but it seems to reappear with renewed vigor each time I fill the glass. The mouthfeel is smack-dab medium for the style. I have no problems with the carbonation either; it's what the British might call 'bog standard'.

Foothill Route 66 Pale Ale is a damn sight better than Foothill Route 66 Hefeweizen Wheat Ale. I was actually a little afraid of what this beer might taste like after drinking that abominaton of a wheat beer. It's definitely rough around the edges, but it's an acceptable (if ultimately unimpressive) Left Coast APA.

This pale ale from Bayhawk under the Foothill name pours a hazy golden-orange body beneath a creamy head of white foam that holds quite well and leaves some very nice walls of lace about the glass. The nose is somewhat restrained in comparison to many other examples of the style, but some notes of citrusy hops (orange, grapefruit) are present, nicely entwined in a bready and lightly biscuity maltiness. The body is decidedly medium, and it's very fine (seemingly bottle conditioned) carbonation gently caresses the tongue before allowing the beer to fade smoothly away. The flavor is much fuller than the nose indicates with a solid biscuit maltiness that's peppered with somewhat piney, citrusy and spicy hop flavors backed by a solid bitterness. It's not complex, and all of the flavors are very well entwined, but there's certainly enough there to warrant recognition from even the most highly certified beer geek. It finishes as might be expected; with its sticky malts fading away and giving reign to its spicy/piney hops and then bitterness. An impressive pale ale.