Vineyard Honey Ale
Bad Martha Farmer's Brewery

 

12oz bottle poured into a snifter.

A: Sunny golden color with perfect clarity. the fine-bubbled and creamy white head settles after just a short time. It can be revived with some good swirling. Wispy lacing.

S: Sticky honey. Biscuit, grain, and toast from the pilsner malt. Spicy and grassy hops. Subtle wafts of vague fruitiness. Yeast.

T: Grainy and toasty from stem to stern. Honey lends a slight sticky sweetness, though the fermentation is thorough. Spicy and grassy hops crop up on the back end and mop up any sweetness the honey brought. Finish comes full circle with a lot of toasty grain.

M: Medium bodied in the end, as the honey lends a slight weight and suggestions of syrupy residuals to an otherwise light and dry body. Ample carbonation does what it needs to to lift and add a bit of crispness.

O: It's pretty mediocre. Very grainy overall with some decent noble hop contribution and a hint of honey. It's fairly inoffensive, but highly unimaginative. Doesn't do much to pull you in and encourage a second round either. The label and branding are equally tired. There's nothing here that will hold the interest of the average craft drinker or grab the attention of the coveted young craft demographic. This brand needs a complete overhaul and needs to reevaluate the direction they are going if they want to pull through in the market at all.

Note- this probably should have been entered on this site as a blonde ale, not an American Pale.

 

 

 

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a light gold color with a short white head that fades slowly and leaves a thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma contains honey, light caramelized malts, some citrus and a touch of hops.

T: The taste starts out sweet with flavors of citrus, honey and caramel. Then a decent hops bitterness comes in. The malt character is hearty but not too heavy and creates some balance. The after-taste is slightly sweet.

M: Crisp and a little smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is slightly sticky.

O: A little tasty, goes down easily, not too filling, mild kick, decent representation of style, it’s a solid beer overall but there are better beers in the style that I would pick first.

 

Over all.. It's a good beer. How it's a pale ale.. I don't see that.