Orange Grove
Southern Tier Brewing Company

From a bottle, this brew is completely clear. It has a soapy off-white head. The aroma has some malt, a bit of herbal hops, and some underlying orange. The taste is similar…it is a straightforward beer with just enough fruit to enhance the flavor. The beer is balanced, and has enough heft to feel substantial. Well made and enjoyable.

 

Southern Tier rarely, if ever, disappoints - and here's another example of such a thing.

I loved the great orange coloration and the sweet smell of oranges. Mouthfeel was well carbonated, more than I like, with a taste that all pale and light on the orange flavoring that rang so good in my nose. This was a good beer, nothing spectacular mind you, but definitely solid.

Not bad for a pale ale but to me could use more flavor other than just orange peel maybe orange candy sweetness or tart sour orange? Just a basic flavor of orange.

 

 

 

 

 

12oz bottle. Poured out a clear, golden orange color with a small, white head of foam. It smelled of fresh oranges, light pine notes and toasted caramel. Sweet orange taste with a sharp bitterness.

The clear bright orange colored beer pours out into a Duvel glass with a 1/2” ivory head that recedes slowly to a cap of foam and then to a thin irregularly shaped island of foam while leaving a sheet and some circles of foam on the sides of the glass. Sipping creates two arches of foam and lots of small patches and legs of lacing.

The aromas are mostly about juicy orange along with a bit of malt and a bit of orange zest in the background.

As expected from the nose the flavors are mostly about the orange juice. In addition there’s some crackery malt sweetness and some orange zest bitterness in the background.

The mouthfeel is medium bodied and a bit prickly with the ongoing moderate carbonation. The finish begins as the juicy orange sweetness begins to fade to become semi-dry and then to eventually turn dry with some orange zest bitterness in the dry ending.

On the whole this is a reasonably well made beer that is drinkable for what it is and would seem to fit the brewery’s intent. However, it’s not a beer I’ll be looking to have again. The orange juice is well controlled and reasonably tasty, but that is also pretty much all the beer is about.

Look: Crystal clear gold. Giant, frothy white head.

Smell: Strong hop scent mixed in with orange peel.

Taste: Mild hop bitterness with a bitter orange undertone. Very little malt characteristic.

Mouthfeel: Thick and creamy, with good carbonation.

Overall: For the most part, this beer sets out to do what it means to do. I'd likely increase the orange and malt flavors a little to better balance the brew.

Strong orange-citrus taste profile.
Clear golden color, 4F head. Good head retention. Tangy MF. Hoppy finish.
Enjoyable beer. I was surprised by this beer- I was expecting a possible lackluster
Pale Ale, instead a beer with very pronounced orange and citrus. I really enjoyed the tangy MF and hoppy finish.

This must be my week for drinking APAs infused with orange! Yesterday, I had Lagunitas' CitruSinensis Pale Ale & here is tonight's entry along the same lines. I will admit that Lagunitas set the bar rather high with theirs, but since they both came from the Friendly Greek Bottle Shop (FGBS), I feel secure in my anticipation of enjoying this one.

From the Bottle: "Seasonal"; "Ale with Natural Orange Extract added".

Extract!?! What in the bloody hell … ?!? I Pop!ped the cap in as a resentful manner as I could muster. I do not mind (most) adjuncts, but extracts are the easy way out/in/of doing business. Grr. I displaced my anger with a solid C-Line pour into the awaiting glass. It foamed forth to form four, no (ha ha), just under three fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, off-white head with good retention, leaving nice lacing in its wake. Color was a solid Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9) with NE-quality clarity. Nose smelled of oranges, but it did not have the same authenticity of Lagunitas' CitruSinensis (or some such) from last night. Instead, it seemed somehow more like candy. I dunno. It's tough to quantify these things, but I was reminded more of a Charms lollipop or an orange Tootsie Roll Pop than of the actual fruit. Sure, it smelled like orange & I'm not dunning them too much as a result, but it still lacked authenticity. Mouthfel was medium, about par for this particular course. The taste was orange-ish, but I felt like it needed more … orange. It just lacked the Ooomph! that I got out of Lagunitas' offering. It may not be fair to compare them this way, but when I had both ready to go on consecutive nights, the difference was prevalent & stunning. Finish was semi-dry, but I was left feeling unfulfilled. YMMV.