Route 50 Coast To Coast American Pale Ale
Ocean City Brewing Company

Appearance:
Reddish amber, like a Spring sunset over the Arizona desert. Tiny head with a white-tinged-with-pink coloration and stringy lacing.

Bouquet:
Grainy malts, herbal hops, and a trace of powdered lemon rind.

Taste:
Biscuity sweet malts, mellow hops, and faint autumnal aftertaste.

Feel:
This is what grabs me. None of the brash noise of a typical, citrus-heavy IPA. No burning carbonation. Just a gentle, breezy beer with a dainty, short-lived linger of malted sweets.

Overall:
Reminiscent of Founder's Centennial IPA, albeit feeble in comparison. Not bad! I'd drink another if one was on hand.

I don't typically like hoppy beers, and compared to many IPAs, this isn't too hoppy (obviously, because it's a Pale Ale, and not an IPA), but this is good. Decent head on the pour, but didn't last. A light citrus smell and taste. The hops didn't overpower, but was enough to let you know it was there. I usually prefer darker, maltier beers over hoppy beers, but this wasn't bad.

 

 

Undated bottle into pint glass. Pours a hazy reddish-amber, with a coarse but persistent head. Initial impression is an interesting blend of pine, spices, and citrus, plus a definite caramel and biscuit malt sweetness which tends to dominate as the beer warms. Mouthfeel is on the heavy side for the style*, but it's not unpleasant. Finish is slightly bitter but quite smooth.
Really enjoyable - would be a good session beer. I would definitely try again.
* Speaking of the style, this is billed as an "American Pale Ale" but I think it more closely resembles an Amber Ale.

 

Had from the bottle; very nice, w/ a unique aftertaste. Want to try again, pref. on tap.

On tap at the "brewery" in OC.

Copper amber color, a "dark" pale ale with a 1F off-white colored head. Very clear and neat. Heavy lacing.

Standard APA aroma. Some biscuit malt, caramel, light on the earthy hops. Nothing noteworthy.

Dry pale malt flavor. A touch of hop flavor in the form of pine and faint citrus.

About medium bodied with some hop tang. The finish is dry without any balance of lingering hop.

A bit off, no threat to any "go-to" pale ales.

 

 

My (usually) local, in-person trader, tone77, dropped this off for me in furtherance of The CANQuest (tm). He flew his snowbird self south for the winter, but I will still raise a toast to him. Prosit!

From the CAN: "Route 50 is more than another roadside attraction. This coast to coast Ameri[CAN] plae ale has a soft hop aroma that transforms its citrus taste with its balanced bready sweetness. The loneliest road in America will not disappoint!"; It also shows the mileage sign at the western terminus of U.S. 50 as follows: "Placerville (CA) 46[;] South Lake Tahoe (CA) 107[;] Ocean City, MD 3073"; "We Do It Dif'rent"; "Drink Local!"

Hey, I CAN't fault them for a geography lesson! Let's see what the beer is like. It begins with a Crack! and CANtinues from there. The "loneliest road in America" bit stems from its traversing The Great Basin area of Nevada until it gets into Utah, but things are never lonely here at Chez Woody. Hot & cold running women, showers, plenty of beds, color satellite TV and beer are just some of our trademark amenities! Speaking of beer, the Crack! was reminiscent of a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner lighting off. Man, that 3,073 miles is gonna go like nothing! I started to really jam down on the gas pedal and give it an inverted Glug, but since we were in downtown Sack o' Tomatoes (Sacramento), I decided to take it nice & easy until we hit the state line at Cal-Nev. I brought up two fingers of foamy, tawny head with reasonable retention & this reminded me to "put a tiger in my tank", so I pulled in at Esso & had the attendant check the color & clarity while I picked up a map for the trip. When I returned, he reported Deep Amber/Light Copper to Copper (SRM = > 13, < 17) with NE-quality clarity. I explained to him that my journey would have me south of the Cornhusker State, but I thanked him for his diligence. Back on the road, I picked up this young fellow hitchhiking to Chicago & told him I could take him into southern Illinois. He thanked me and opened up a baggie that filled the whole car with a grassy, minty odor! Man, I dig that scent. We were really flying. Mouthfeel was medium on the beer. The taste did not live up to the nose, though. It was more muted than I had been led to expect, about in keeping with an APA, but still ... It was hoppy, but not hoppy enough, dig? I dropped my passenger in Salem, IL shortly after we each dropped a half-tab. This was turning into a trippy trip, man! Before I knew it, the sled & I were roaring through West Virginia and I picked up a new passenger in Clarksburg. I had stopped for a bite to eat in town and the buxom, redheaded waitress said that she really dug my wheels. She was curious as to where I was headed and when I told her OCMD, she squealed with delight. The beer was really going down smooth at this point, a pleasant admixture of malty sweetness & hoppy bitterness. I think that was why I was amenable when she came back out in a teeny-weenie, yellow polka dot bikini & asked if she could ride with me. We zipped through DC and slid into a motel blocks from the beach in OCMD. The finish was semi-dry and lightly bitter as I watched her run off into the surf to play. I felt like CAPT America & Billy in that new movie, "Easy Rider". We had come west to east and we blew it, man, we blew it. She was gone, the beer was gone & man, did I have a long drive back ahead of me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from a 12 oz. can. Has a iced tea color with a 1 inch head. Smell is mild, some hops, citrus. Taste is hops up front, a bit of pine, malts kicking in at the finish. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is a refreshing and a decent beer.