City Pale Ale
City Brewing Company

 

 

Bought this one at the Brewers Game @ Miller Park.

Poured a medium amberish color with a smaller sized off white head. Aromas and tastes of caramel and citrus (I was getting oranges). Lightly toasty too. Light to medium sweet.

Notes from: 07/14/05.

a. Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass. Cloudy orange with a small soapy head and pretty much no lace.

S. Bready and spicey in the nose. Sweet caramel malt and some toastiness is apparant in the aroma as well.

T. Very sweet malt body, almost as if a substantial amount of honey was added to the brewing process. Becomes a bit cloying. Could do with a bit more hop character, but distant leafy hops are definately there, even lending a hint of grapefruit that helps mingle with the sweetness. Clean alcohal rears its head for a moment then a bitter lingering finish.

m. Crisp with alot of carbonation. Medium bodied ale.

D. A decent overall beer that just needs cleaned up alittle. More hops and less sweetness. This bottle is not dated so perhaps it isn't the best example, but even if thats the case, I do not want another.

A: Amber color with little head. Great lacing on the side of my pint glass.

S: A lot of malt smell, little sweet grapefruit hops.

T: This is a pretty sweet beer. Almost tastes like candy. A little hop flavor (citrus) followed by some really caramel like malt. Not the best tasting beer at all, but not horrible.

M: Thick, sweet, thick, sweet.. that's about all it has to offer. Maybe it's cuz of the 4 barley wines I've had that I'm not getting much off of this other than sweet and thick, but really, that's all I have to describe it. Almost leaves a sugar coating in the mouth.

D: Not horrible to drink, if it would get rid of the sweetness. The look is that of a typical pale ale, but other than that, the taste is nothing like one. I could (if I had to over maybe Budweiser) drink a few of these, but other than that, no thanks.

Single, twelve ounce bottle just copped from The Palisade Liquor Store in Jersey City...
Aroma... Can you say hops? This APA surprised me immediately after opening the bottle with a surging smell of fresh, wet hops... Although APA's usually combine both malts and hops, this one was definitely hop dominated, to the point of it possibly being mistaken for a light-bodied IPA...
The taste, likewise, was very hoppy and resiny, with slight hints of sweet, mild graperfuit, lemon zest, citrus, and a tinge of malts...
Creamy mouthfeel along with a good level of drinkability...
Interesting sample and a different twist on an APA...
Worth a try...

Hazy orange color with a quickly receding white head.

Smell like honey. Too sweet, I don't detect any hops, a little bit of malt is noticeable.

If I tasted this blind, Pale ale would not be my guess. There is a very slight hop sweetness up front, followed by chocolately malt. Finishes with its strongest flavor: Honey. Very strong honey, much too sweet for me. A little bit of hop dryness can be found throughout in the backround.

Mouthfeel is average.

I can't drink too much of this beer, too sweet for me.

Less honey flavor would make me happier with this beer, more hops would too.

Disappointment has a name, and it would be City's sampler pack. It was only $18 for 24, but you get 12 of these in addition to 6 Octoberfest and 6 Wheat. This pale was the least of the favorites.

A: Amber orange and a bit cloudy, good head with decent lace that went quick. Promising.

S: Standard as it gets. A little grapefruit, mostly malt, but a sweetness to it too, almost like JWD's pale.

M: Hops in sweet syrup. Yikes. All you could really say about the mouth is just as said. It is a little thicker, but otherwise, YIKES.

T: If they have hops candy made by Brachs, this would be it. The malt is merely in the background, the bitter is an afterthought. Sugary syrup is all. There is a bit of alcohol, even a twist of grapefruit, otherwise, pale ale is not my idea of a refreshing soda pop.

D: Nope. It's maybe acceptable to someone who is putting feelers out for better beer, but even JWD's pale has a bit less sugar and a little more flavor than this.

Poured a medium copper hue with a one finger creamy off white head. There was good retention and lacing.

The smell featured a light herbal hop and some grainy malt.

The taste was upfront sweet honey with a touch of herbal hop spice. The sweetness caught me off guard and was not all that welcomed.

The mouthfeel was of average fullness with cloying sweetness.

Overall a tough one to finish. Perhaps it will take a few to get used to the honey sweetness, but as of now the drinkability is pretty low.

poured a deep amber color with moderat off-white puffy head.
Smell is notable for a significant piney hop presence.
Taste is also domintaed by piney and grassy hops. there is a modest amount of malt in the background to provide a nice balance.
left a dry bitterness at the finish which was very enjoyable.
I enjoyed this ber at a steak house in West Haven, CN. after a long drive through much traffic on I-95.It was a surprising beer to find and complimented my meal perfectly.

How nice to have an American pale ale that is well balanced and doesn't try to grab attention just by loading in the hops. (In fact, the beer is probably a tad too deferential...a pinch more of hops wouldn't hurt at all.)

The color is deep amber/gold. There's little head or lacing--not surprising considering the small amount of hops. The hops that are present don't add much bitterness, but instead they blend with the nicely prominent malt character to give the beer a soft, sweet fruit flavor, mostly resembling strawberry but without any fruit tartness.

The mouthfeel is really nice--soft, and neither heavy nor thin.

This is a short review yet I'm almost finished my beer as I type these words. This beer is damn drinkable. I'm sitting in an air-conditioned room, but this one would be better for a porch on a hot day, when a refreshing, easy-drinking session beer would be just what the doctor ordered.

Pours a nice copper-colored hue with a good head that laces up the side of the glass. Head retention abates after a while but a white top remains consistent.

Nice easy grassy, aroma with some malt in the nose, not much

This is actually a very balanced pale ale. Not very hoppy in bitterness and has some solid flavor to it. Flavor is lemon, citrus, grassy, with some malt coming in and then some finishing dryness that isn't too rough. Bitterness is slightly subdued and not harsh at all.

Mouthfeel is fine.

I actually believe that this is a very fine beer for its style. Made with the classic cascade hop all the way through I think that this would be something that many people enjoyed before prohibition as a standard american pale ale. Very good job on hitting the style guidelines.

As a tip, drink this warmer than 55 degrees. You'll get tons of flavor and dryness from it and the malt flavor really diminishes this way, too.

This is an Excellent Pale Ale! Way better than Sierra Nevada's. Poured with a nice fine head and lace. Lovely clear burnished amber color. Aromatic hoppy resiny fruity nose with some malt in there. Very fresh. Classic american pale ale flavor - cascade hops and plenty of them. good balance with the malt. Great body and very drinkable. Hands down a session beer. An undiscovered jewel.

City Brewery's Pale Ale pours out a rocky head over a
clear light amber brew. Carbonation is active and the nose
is basically malt. Flavor is a little thin- some malt and grain
with a grassy hop finish. Mouthfeel is a little thin as well. Meh-
I guess I'm spoiled here. My american-style pale ale of choice
is Summit's- it highlights the more aromatic and herbal qualities
of their hops over simple bittering as with City's effort. I guess I
can chalk this one up to my palate drifting after quitting smoking.
This was the third bottle of City Pale Ale I've had out of their variety
pack- and I recall it tasting a lot better when I was smoking. Well-
that's why they say taste is a subjective thing. This beer is better
than your usual tappers- it is more flavorful than that- but I guess
I could only recommend it to somebody who really likes the grassy
hop notes over floral/fruit/herbal notes.

Sampled from a 12 oz bottle, poured into a chalice at 40 degrees.

A - Poured a clear golden color with a mild ring atop the beer. Some sticky lacing appeared along the glass...decent carbonation.

S - Very sweet, malty background. Little else detected.

T - Begins as an unbalanced sweetness...ends with an unpleasant sourness that has no supporting cast. Malt tasted undeveloped, like it was supposed to taste like something else. I kept expecting a hoppy addition, but nothing there.

M - Watered down with a very dry staleness.

D - Not enjoyable at all. I can't remember why I had to buy this...I think I just wanted to try the brewery...not a good representation, I hope.

Appears a slightly copper amber with cryst clear body that forms a large off whtie cream hued slowly dwindling head leaves even scattered lacing around the nonic pint. Aroma has an herbal pine cone scented tart citrus peel note very nice nose with mild caramel note malt base with samy nutty edge to it. Flavors do not mesh well herbal and citrus notes come off abrasive herbal nut caramle edge doesn't work with mildly bitter tones...hops seem stale. Mouthfeel has a mild creamy texture even carbonation...kinda of unassuming and mass produced in nature. Drinkability well I guess it's what I expected from LaCrosse City Brewing.

The pour is a nice clean orange amber with a white head that quickly fades to a nice lace. The aroma is a bit bready with a light malt, citrus and bitter hops presence. The flavors of malt and bitter hops is fairly well balanced and the finish is just slightly dry. Overall, an average pale ale brew.

Poured into a nonic glass, a golden/amber color.A white head fades quickly to a thin layer of foam.Not much carbination,looks dead.
The aroma was faint with more malt presence,very little hop aromas.
Carmely,grassy,nutty,a bit fruity aromas were slightly present.
The taste was very sweet.carmelly,syrupy,fruity,a clean piney taste at the finish.Nothing exciting,lacking in the hop department.
The mouthfeel was light to medium,a bit cloying.A pleasing bitterness,with a quick sharp taste fading into juicy bittersweetness.
A fairly drinkable beer, just nothing here to make me want another.

Pours somewhat dark yellow/amber color. Head seems fueled by active carbonation.

Smelled a little sour. Otherwise, sweet malts bordering on caramel, some bready aroma, and floral or citrus aromas.

More flavor than I expected. This is the brewery that used to do Old Style, afterall. Sticky flavor, cloying. Reminds me of the bottom of a warm 40 ounce bottle. There was some caramel flavor, followed by a bit of fruit left out in the sun all day. The aftertaste ended with a bitterness that was on the fence between slightly enjoyable, and not quite enjoyable: like those old "Bitter Beer Face" commercials.

Mouthfeel was pretty crisp with a dry carbonation. No problems with being too foamy or creamy from the carbonation.

It's been well over 6 years since I lived in La Crosse, and a bit more since their brewery was bought out. Sad to think that back then I was looking down my nose at Old Style while drinking my MGD. Whatever my preconception was, I'm surprised there was this much going on with this beer. Don't get me wrong, I won't be picking this up again, but if dirt cheap beer is on your list, this could be a candidate.

Poured this 12 oz. undated brown bottle into an IPA glass. Pleasant clear amber body topped with three+ fingers of off-white head.

Smell was faint. Light sweetness and mild floral hops.

Taste was mildly bitter but weighed more heavily toward syrupy sweetness. Actually rather non-descript. After warming further I hoped more aroma & flavor would emerge but they did not. Uneventful.

Mouthfeel was rather thin, some spritzy ETOH/carbonation activity. Overall a disappointment. The appearance was the highlight of this beer. I will not taste this one again.