Mandarina Pale Ale
Machine House Brewery

Pours a clear yellow with swirls of foam sticking to the Wander Brewing snifter. There is a whiff of straw. The first thing you notice is how bitter this is. It starts out with a flicker of malty sweetness and then just goes to a dry, mineral, bitter finish. Well, it doesn't wait for the finish.

The modest herbal note also fades quickly to an unpleasant and harsh astringency. I don't know how they made such an undrinkable brew out of a hop that can have such a delicious citrus flavor. Lots of sediment in the bottom of the 500 ml bottle. Purchased at Garden Path at Skagit County airport.

 

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a lightly hazy, medium golden amber with a big four finger white head with great retention and thick lacing. Aroma of pale and biscuit malt, grassy and citrus hops, lemon and orange, lightly spicy; nice. Flavor is biscuit malt, citrus and dry grassy hops, lemon, grapefruit; starts lightly flavored, but bitter citrus hops kick in in the middle leading to an almost astringent bitter finish that is redeemed by all kinds of fleeting citrus, tropical and stone fruit notes as the hop bitterness tapers off. Medium bodied with light creaminess. Quite bitter for an English style pale ale and there are moment when the malt base seems insufficient to stand up to the hops, but oddly, both the malt and fruit flavors from hops pop back up in the finish and are quite nice. One of those roller coaster tastes that reveal new notes just at the right time. I like this hop quite a bit and it is quite a bit more potent than I'd expect from an English pale. A little uneven and very hoppy for the English style, but refreshing and fun to drink. Lots of flavor for the ABV.