Alta California Ale
Alvarado Street Brewery

Can poured into an Alvarado Street Brewery Willi Beecher glass

A: Pours golden orange amber with a frothy pale beige head that settles to a firm layer and laces beautifully.

S: Resinous herbal pine, citrus zest and pith, a touch grassy, light floral notes, and lightly toasty bready malt.

T: Plenty of resinous pine and citrus, grapefruit and lemon, floral and grassy herbal notes, soft hints of underlying tropical and stone fruit, peach, apricot, and faint passion fruit, slightly toasty bready malt, and just a touch of sweetness on a rather dry finish.

M: Medium body, moderate carbonation.

O: This is gonna sound dumb because this isn't some crazy hype beer, but been waiting so long to try this one. I bought a can a few years ago but somewhere in transit it developed a pin hole leak that I didn't discover until days later, so I've been waiting to get my hands on another ever since.
With all that build up, was it worth the wait? Yes. It drinks like a refined classic West Coast pale ale and I appreciate that kinda thing. Might not turn a lot of heads, but it's a very well done beer.

Picked up a four pack of this on my lil jaunt down through California on my way to the Rose Bowl to see the Rolling Stones!

Pours a light copper like appearance with remarkable clarity and 2/3" white head. Good looking pale ale. The aroma wasn't super hoppy, this is a single hop Simcoe beer, possibly the most popular bittering hop these days. So you get that bitter pine, soap and grapefruit rind kind of smell.

Taste, its not all Simcoe! The maltings here definitely give off more of a older biscuity feel. The combination of the color hue, the 100% Simcoe use and the "British heirloom floor malt" gives it a coppery kind of feel. The carbonation was fine for a pale ale. Light impression of grassiness on it. The mouthfeel is crisp and brisk, it comes off as more like a 60 ibu beer than a 40ibu one, I dunno, those stats seem just as off these days as they did in the IBU wars. I did like the non traditional almost esb malt leanings here, its kind of the stand out aspect other than the very good appearance.

 

L: Straw yellow in color with clear appearance. Less than a finger of head on the pour with very minimal lacing on the glass. Bubbles continually flow up to the top of the beer forming a nice ring around the perimeter. Looks plain, simple, and appetizing.
S: Here's the thing- I really can't smell much of anything. Very mild aromas of pine, lemon and black pepper, but that is about it. Slight grassy hop presence, but it isn't forward with aromas as I would expect, considering the status of ASB's other APAs.
T: Nice tasting APA. Plenty of orange and lemon flavor with subtle malt foundation. Finish is grassy with hints of sap, pine and lingering bready malt flavor.
F: Light in body and light to medium in weight. Low to moderate carbonation, somewhere flirting on the lines between the two. Clean and smooth but also somewhat sticky in the mouth afterwards.
O: A very enjoyable beer. Perfect in the summer heat, perfect in the cooler weather, just plain and simple all around, and in a good way. I would definitely buy these again, and the abv is at my preference. I am very glad to try, cheers!

Slight chill haze, nose is nice but mute, earthy and floral, taste is more dynamic but still not 'wow', nice crisp finish and mouthfeel. Really nice summer pool/lake/lawnmower beer that won't knock your socks off, but will leave you very satisfied and able to handle several more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a sad fact that unless an IPA tastes like juice and looks turbid these days, people cannot appreciate the craft or nuance. This is a beautiful west coast IPA with a unique and interesting flavor profile. Juniper, floral - like the wild lilies of the sierras, a grapefruit pith and slight pine resin quality to the backend. Crisp, refreshing, on the light end of medium. IBUs don't come across as straight bitterness, but woven into the flavor profile. Great modernized take on California's flagship beer style.