Hatfield Blonde Ale
Medicine Hat Brewing Company

A- The brew pours a light golden color, with tinges of yellow and orange/red in the background.....it is clear-ish, being what I'm guessing is chill hazed (yes it is....as it warms the clarity becomes much more pronounced). The head is pretty fizzy, and starts out around one finger, settling rather quickly into oblivion....interestingly the wisps of foam left behind reminds me of a Jackal like appearance! Carbonation is fairly aggressive, with many columns of rapidly rising bubbles ascending to the top of my glass, and the lacing is very modest, with small patches of foam trying to cling to the side of my glass before being pulled back down by gravity. Nothing special to look at really....

S- A rather light smelling Ale, with main notes of bread and biscuit, some yeasty qualities, sweeter light caramel malt, and dry unmalted barley grains. The finish is clean, with muted hop aroma, and I dare say that there is some corn/maltose sweetness throughout.

T- A dry grassy flavor is probably the most dominant thing happening here, but there are some complimenting flavors of grainy pale malts, bread yeast, unsalted cracker, and super clean and weak hop finish. Really, anything more to be said is overdoing it here....a refreshing profile on the palate and a little underwhelming.

M/O- Light bodied, heavy carbonation that really scrubs the palate and an unassuming overall character sums this one up. The drinkability factor is high, as I know I could slam several of these as a patio beer, and I'm sure that's what this is meant to be, but don't expect to have huge expectations coming into it.....its a step above what a BMC brew is but locally made! I would have it again but won't go out of my way for it either...

 

355ml can - something about a rain-making wizard, blah blah blah on the label screed.

This beer pours a pale golden yellow colour, with two fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and somewhat creamy off-white head, which leaves a bit of low-lying coral reef atoll lace around the glass as it evenly subsides.

It smells of bready and biscuity pale malt, some apple and pear light fruitiness, subtle white and black ground pepper spicy notes, and some weak leafy, earthy, and weedy green hop bitters. The taste is bready and doughy pale malt, more muddled pome and citrus fruity esters, some biscuity white crackers, faint estery yeast, and a minor leafy, weedy, and floral verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly active in its quotidian frothiness, the body a so-so medium weight, and generally smooth, with a wee airy creaminess trying oh so hard to get off of the ground here. It finishes well off-dry, the malt certainly putting the hops' head in a curb-stomp position.

Overall, this is a rather well-rendered version of this oft-maligned (guilty!) style, with lots of pale ale and otherly flavours abounding. Worthy of a go, as a warm weather (and not just this freaky thing we're going through right now), and otherwise imbibement.