Lone Goose
Strangers Brewing Co.

they call this a hoppy golden ale, but to me its more like a lighter english pale ale, pretty hoppy as they go, great balance though, and a lot more grain depth and body than we typically associate with a basic blonde ale, served on cask this was a lovely little beer to sip on a get off my feet with for awhile. light copper in color, definitely much richer than blonde or golden in color, almost bronze, with a frothy inch of thick cask head on it, sudsy and lasting, pretty good clarity on this. the nose is both fruity and herbal. hops before grain, subtle grilled pineapple, zested orange, and green tea, without standout freshness but not faded either, well integrated and not overdone, almost medicinal with some light astringency in here perhaps from the ferment, slightly yeasty to me in a proofing bread dough sort of way, and some earthy and toasty notes from the malt, very english there to me. the flavor has great balance, the hops are above the grain but not in front of it, neat fruity layers less common in this type of beer in these parts really define it, some late bitterness is welcome, and its another beer from scotland packing a ton of flavor and texture at a session abv, which really seems to be the way things are over there, loved the session approach to so much of the craft beer. hints of bread and honey to the malt, old world ale yeast is here too, some minerality on the swallow with the hops, and subtle tropical fruitiness thats mild but interesting and totally unexpected, a little bit more contemporary hop profile in a beer thats still pretty thoroughly old school. the cask conditioning is excellent and this is smooth and long without being real sweet or anything. the only beer i had from these guys while i was in scotland, but a nice one. recommended for those seeking something a little bit more on the hoppy side.