Table Rock Pale Ale
Amos Howard's Brew Pub

Was hanging out in Hickory this weekend and was able to try several of Olde Hickory's beers. Apparently they've recently started to bottle their offerings. Anyway on to the review. Pours a nice golden honey color with a very nice thick, fluffy head. This beer is perfectly clear, it looks awesome. Nice lacing along the glass as well. Not much special on the nose just a typical APA. Bready, biscuity malts dominate with some nice floral hops in the background. Picking up some light sweetness in there as well. Taste is very similar nothing special just a solid APA. Again nice bready malts with a nice floral, herbal hop bitterness to round it out. Good bitter aftertaste. Good mouthfeel with nice carbonation. Overall a very solid session beer looking forward to the rest of the 22.

I would consider this, along with the Hickory Stick Stout, to be their flagship beer - and with good reason.

Pours a very nice amber with a two-finger head. Decent retention and light lacing.

Again, nothing much to report in the nose.

Nicely bitter with just enough fruity hops coming through to make it interesting. Spicy bitter finish. This starts nicely bitter and builds to a very nice bitter finish.

Well worth getting and easily my first choice of their lighter-colored beers.

Sampled on tap at the Brewgrass festival in Asheville, North Carolina. Consumed on 09/20/2008 and reviewed from notes taken at the time.

The last brew I was actually able to sample at the entire festival. I really enjoyed this one to be honest. Nice pour here with a rich amber color, a slight haziness to it as well as it poured into the glass. Some of the copious carbonation bubbles were reaching the top and producing a very nice patch of lace that came up to a height of two inches before settling down and coating the inside of the glass.

The aroma was rich with bright citrus hops. Lots of orange and pineapple in here as well as a decent touch of light peach. As it warmed up some nice touches of biscuit and bread like malts then started to show their head. Very nice balance here and a really wonderful flavor to be honest. It then moved over to a nice dry and very bitter finish that left me looking quickly for the next sip. The medium bodied and almost chewy mouth feel was parted by a steady stream of carbonation that kept it from getting too filling, making this one a very nice session beer to say the least.

This may have been one of my favorite of the IPA's I had at the festival. Just very crisp and clean and very well put together. I actually drank it very quickly and went back for another before exiting the field. A solid beer that will keep me coming back for another round shortly.

Nice to see this brewery offering some cask ales. Poured a cloudy golden with little head, but adequete carbonation for a cask beer. Surprising nose of spice and apricots. The spice is along the lines of cinammon and nutmeg, but not in your face. Malty flavors up front, followed by bitter flavors of grapefruit on the finish. Nicely done. Mellow mouthfeel, as to be expected, but with just a hint of the wood tannins to keep things lively. I really enjoyed this and could realy see this as a session beer- especially on cask.

Pours a nice amber, copper color and a pretty large, fluffy head and solid retention.A little weak on the nose but with good citrus and pine. Some caramel and light biscuit malt. Pine, hops, citrus, all here. Pretty tasty. A tad thin in the mouth but moderate bitterness and light crisp dry finish. Very drinkable with a low ABV. I'd have to say that this along with Hickory Stick Stout are my two favorites from OHB. Recommended.

Had on tap at the Sunspot in Knoxville, TN. Poured to an orange-red color with thick white head that lasted for most the glass, and left good lacing. Slight fruit aroma, apples mostly, with a hint of hoppy floral. Flavor was a little of the same, although both were muted. What I liked best about this beer was the biting mouthfeel and the strong, bitter finish.

Poured a clear copper with a huge head that left heavy, sticky lacing down the entire glass. Pine and citrus hop scent was nice but could have been a bit stronger. The taste was all about the hops. Citrus was most dominant with some bready malts in the middle. Nice mouthfeel with a bitter finish. Very drinkable IPA...I had more than my share. First beer from them that I have tried and I was very impressed.

This is one of OHB's better beers. I was pleased to find it on cask. Served at room temp. Little head. The taste was very creamy. Still retained a good amout of bitterness. I could certainly go for this beer again on cask. No additional charge for cask ales, so how could you go wrong?

My favorite beer from OHB!
Pours a nice autumn color with a copious head that is sticky and retains through out the session.
Smells of citrus and piney hops.
Taste is mostly grapefruit and orange. With some earthy tasting malts to balance it out. It's well balanced.
Feels thinner in the mouth than one would expect. Light bodied. I would expect this beer to be more medium bodied.
Extremely drinkable. Easily worth a growler fill.
It's somewhere between an over hoppy APA and a light bodied IPA.

Appearance: Medium orange-honey colored body a nice head and good lacing

Smell: Relatively closed; a bit of citrus, much like their Crawdad Red.

Taste: Nice and hoopy with a lot of grapefruit bitterness and a dash of sweetness that starts in the middle and complements the hops through the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium body and carbonation

Drinkability: This is a very nice American IPA. (I have updated this review on 2/13/05 and found that this batch was much hoppier than my previous experience with it.)