Tailgater Pale Ale
Happy Valley Brewing Company

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From:
Happy Valley Brewing Company
 
Pennsylvania, United States
Style:
American Pale Ale
Ranked #825
ABV:
4.7%
Score:
86
Ranked #26,472
Avg:
3.78 | pDev: 11.11%
Ratings:
16 | reviews: 4
Status:
Active
Rated:
Aug 21, 2025
Added:
Dec 04, 2013
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  6
Notice the pale, straw color. Take in the bright, citrusy hop aroma. Savor the medium-bodied mouth feel and the dry, refreshing finish. Enjoy this beer at family picnics, with a sandwich at your local barn or share it… with 106,572 of your closest friends.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by BeerForMuscle:
Photo of BeerForMuscle
Rated by BeerForMuscle from New Jersey

3.71/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Apr 01, 2016
More User Ratings:
Photo of jadpsu
Reviewed by jadpsu from Georgia

3.38/5  rDev -10.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Purchase a 4 pack of 16 oz cans while having dinner with friend's. The price of $24.00 was a shock and insures that I won't be purchasing their take out beer again. Can't help but seeing that earlier poster, NeroFiddled paid $14.00 for the same 4 pack exactly 3 years ago.
LOOK: Pours an unfiltered and hazy gold color with an all white head that settled to a thin skin while leaving a decent amount of side glass lace.
AROMA: Citrus and peppery hops with a little bit of an earthy backbone. Tangerine, grapefruit and passion fruit.
TASTE: Very little carbonation from the can, had on draft with dinner and carbonation was more pronounced.
The mouthfeel was dictated by the low carbonation and had a creamy texture.
Overall the draft I had was superior to the can which is what is rated here.
The price alone required this to be an outstanding beer. It fell far short of that.
Aug 21, 2025
Photo of NeroFiddled
Reviewed by NeroFiddled from Pennsylvania

4.01/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Happy Valley Brewing Co. "Tailgater Hazy India Pale Ale"
16 fl. oz. can without production codes or freshness dating
$14/4-pk at the brewery on 08/13/22

Notes via stream of consciousness: The Tailgater is named after an old VW tailgate truck that's on display outside of the brewery. Fun! It's poured a very hazy golden-orange colored body beneath a short head of bright white foam. The aroma is a lot like fresh orange juice which makes sense because it's brewed with "fresh tangerine". I'm not really getting anything beyond that but that's OK as it's quite nice. The flavor also offers a lot of tangerine but there's also some sweetish and bready malt, and a firm bitterness. Along with a little bit of acidity the firm bitterness leads it to a dry finish. That acidity also affects the mouth feel which is bristling and zesty. The body is medium leaning towards medium-light. The head retention and lacing weren't that great but that seems to be the only drawback. All in all this is a very refreshing pale ale that would be great at any thime of the year although it shines in the summer.
Review #8,209
Aug 13, 2022
 
Rated: 3.21 by TheBigBoy from Pennsylvania

Oct 17, 2021
Photo of ajm5108
Reviewed by ajm5108 from Pennsylvania

4.21/5  rDev +11.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
The nose definitely nails a bright orange burst, very well done, flavor doesn’t quite pop as much, the orange is there and nice but otherwise it is pretty pedestrian. Good canvas for the orange though and refreshing
Jan 07, 2019
 
Rated: 4.21 by tdm168 from Pennsylvania

Apr 27, 2018
Photo of jlindros
Reviewed by jlindros from Massachusetts

3.79/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Tap at the brewery
Nice creamy head fades semi quickly, nice lacing, crystal clear straw color

Nose light grassy hop, little citrus, floral, light

Taste little malt note, light grassy slight fall citrus hop, fruity, drier fairly bitter finish

Mouth is med to lighter bod, decent carb

Overall not bad, light easy drinking pale, wish it had a bit more character
Dec 27, 2017
 
Rated: 3.29 by heerboth from Pennsylvania

Aug 18, 2016
 
Rated: 3.83 by Yellolab2010 from Pennsylvania

Aug 10, 2015
 
Rated: 4.6 by Jeveleth from Pennsylvania

Sep 26, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by pat_usher from Pennsylvania

Jul 12, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by jra173 from Pennsylvania

Jun 17, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by AMarkle6524 from Pennsylvania

Mar 31, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by jwat from Pennsylvania

Dec 28, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by JulianBaughman from Pennsylvania

Dec 15, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by TheMultiYeast from Vermont

Dec 04, 2013