Genesee Brew House Pale Ale
Genesee Brewing Co.

 

This brew was served from the tap at The Genesee Brew House in Rochester, NY. It arrived in a house hefe glass glowing a pale golden straw coloring. It held a one and a half finger head of creamy white bubbles, leaving spidery lacing down the walls of the glass as it receded at a medium pace. No haze or sediment was noted, and carbonation appeared active. The nose showed dried pellet hops with big, bittering earth and citrus. Light strawberry fruit added sweetness, while the malts showed an equally bittering pale toast. The hops became more grassy and more organic with warmth. Our first impression was that the hops were nicely juicy, while the malts were crisp and drying. The flavoring opened with light adjuncty malts, toasted pale malts, big grassy hops, and light alcohol. The peak showed a lightness of cherries, with more hollow ethanol, and bittering sour pale malts to balance any sweetness. The finish showed more of those dry and grassy hops, to give a final bittering tip to the hoppy side of the scale. These remained juicy with warmth, but also retained a gritty earthiness as well. The body was medium, and the carbonation was average. There was minimal slurp and smack, despite the frothy head, but cream did brush the mustache. There was a nice cooling coat of wet bubbles all around the mouth, with a decent astringent twang on the back. The abv was appropriate, and the beer drank easily.

Overall, what we enjoyed most about this brew was the crisp hoppy flavoring, and easy drinkability. The flavoring remained well balanced until the end, where those big earthy and grassy hops took over, giving a bite and juiciness to the end. While the nose was comparatively light, the feel and great ease and sessionability to the drinkability kept you coming back for more.