Hell-Diver
Sockeye Grill & Brewery

a balanced and sort of old school pale ale here, my first beer from these guys, and a real drinkable pint, they dont really make them like this anymore. a little bit of a brassy hue to it, clear and shiny in the glass, with an inch of airy white head to it and fine lace as it drinks. aroma and flavor show some crystal malt, but its not heavy or sweet, a baked note to it, a little honey to me, and then an earthy pale barley flavor that comes through. the hops are mostly bitter to me, not flavorful or aromatic so much, but they have a little bit of a grapefruit pith citrus thing going on, and are robust enough in the finish against the grain. relatively high bitterness for a pale ale, very northwestern. clean to drink though, no yeast character here at all, a brisk mineral profile at the end, and high carbonation which keeps it drinking easy. nice with some of the food in here and a nice contrast to some of the more modern recipes they had on their list when i was in. these guys seem to be one of the older original idaho breweries, and i have enjoyed their beers pretty well so far since i have been here!

edit: had this much less than fully fresh this weekend and almost hits like a doppelbock, so malty from the can i had to pour it and make sure it was still honey colored, not mahogany colored, which it was, but man, this really seems to fade into a beer of almost dusty german malt origins. not bad, i like malty beers, but nothing like an american pale, even an old school one, and it was somewhat of a turnoff knowing how much this has changed. never really seen this kind of evolution in this style before, which is why its worthy of noting, not bad, just really odd. leaving scores as they are, but anyone else pick this up from a dated can? fascinating...

Appearance: a deep golden with one finger of off white head.

Smell: mostly malts and bready.

Taste: same as smell- malts with some hops and minimal bitterness.

Feel: good carbonation with smooth finish

Overall: great beer for a hot day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cloudy amber with a big white head and good amount of lace. Long head retention.
Smell is bready malt
Taste is bold bitter hops with a good amout of bready malts in support. The hops are pine resins with a touch of tropical fruit such as mango.
Mouthfeel is medium and carbonation is ample.
Overall a Pale Ale that belies the 5.0% abv. Feels much bigger than that.
Great session APA folks. Found the six pack of cans in Washington State.