Poser
No-Li Brewhouse

 

I've always been a fan of No-Li Brewhouse and in fact, their Spin Cycle Red Ale was one of the first beers I had on draught. When I saw the Poser pale ale in store (and on sale!) I snatched it up and couldn't wait to get home and crack one open.
I liked Poser pale ale from the first sniff. It smelled like blackberry bushes that might line your favorite path being warmed up by late summer sunshine. After that, I couldn't resist and took a hasty sip.
My tongue was greeted and enveloped with slight effervescence that danced across each papillae registering citrusy sweetness. As you swallow, the sharper citrus fades to a muted sweet and wheat flavor but leaves your mouth with a barely bitter (25 IBU) finish. The low IBU is just enough to get your mouth watering in anticipation of your next sip.

It pours amber with a nice pillowy head of a decent retention and even better lacing. The aroma is floral and with plenty of caramel and toasted bread notes. The flavor is similar and more bitter than the 25IBUs would suggest. Not much hoppy character though. It's more like an English PA than an American PA. Medium body with a fair amount of tingling carbonation.

 

Looks nice and hazy honey color, smells very faint of citrus and wheat, tastes average hoppiness a pretty good balance, and a nice orange bite, but not overwhelming. The feel was crisp, overall it was pretty decent but a bit watery, but a perfectly fine beer.

Pours a lightly cloudy medium gold with a thin smear of foamy white head. Not much by way of aroma with just faint grain. The body, though, has some nice light citrus hops and a little bit of a cereal grain balancing it. The body is nice and light with just a small carbonated tingle.

 

Hazy deep golden color with a minimal white head. Floral hoppy aroma. Taste is unremarkable, with some citrusy hop bitterness. I found it a decent pale ale, but nothing special.

 

I have to agree with other less than positive reviews. I tend to like No-li brews more than friends, but this one made me sad to the point of drain pour. The look was expected of a session. The smell a little off - I thought it musty, and another reviewer said skunky and like a Mexican beer. I completely agree with that assessment. I thought it more like a lager in taste, and now realize this tasted exactly like a poor Mexican lager. Yuck unfortunately. Drink A Jet Star or Wrecking Ball instead.

 

Bottle from Albertsons. Slightly hazy golden pour with small silky white head. Hoppy aroma with a nod towards APA. Taste favors light, crisp malts, hops finish on the back plane. Easy drinker, nice golden, would appeal to APA fans.

No-Li Brewhouse "Poser"
12 oz. brown glass bottle, no apparent freshness dating
$1.99 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

No-Li's Poser pours a slightly hazy (most likely due to dry-hopping) deep gold/amber body beneath a 2-finger thick head of frothy bright white foam. The head drops slowly, and it maintains an almost full surface covering while leaving some nice lacing behind.

The aroma is bright and clean with citrusy and tropical fruit hops over a delicately sweet and mildly biscuity malt base. It's not complex, but it is compelling.

The flavor follows the aroma but with limited citrus, and a more floral and grassy hop character. It remains bright and clean, and backed by a firm bitterness, it finishes dry with some lingering grassy hops.

In the mouth it's medium-light in body and gently effervescent, keeping the tongue perked up and ready for another sip.

Overall it's a solid American pale ale that's well-balanced and nicely polished. I wish that a lot more of the citrus and tropical fruit I found in the nose carried over to the flavor, but I can hardly fault it for that. It leaves me curious about the brewery and I'm interested to see what else they brew.

Dry hopped session ale. I was excited........but.....This beer has a slight skunk smell to it, kind of like a Mexican beer...Light straw color. decent, but quickly receding head and ok lacing. Taste is lacking a bunch of hop flavor that should be in this style. Getting that AAL taste on the palate. Overall, just not enough complexity and no where near a great beer, sorry !!!!

 

 

 

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a light to medium golden amber with a thin white head that dissipates to patches with light lacing. Aroma of light biscuit malt with a hint of caramel, light citrus and grassy hops. Flavor follows, with biscuit, mildly grainy malt, grassy and lightly citrus hops; finishes a bit abruptly with light grassy hop bitterness. Light to medium bodied with good carbonation. A sturdy light APA that has a nice biscuit malt body, rather mellow hops and a light finish. A satisfactory light session ale, but not memorable.

 

Sat down for a session of these, three bottles poured into glass. First beer was good hops shown through great tasted like a great session ipa without all the thiness. Second beer cracks started to appear but couldn't pinpoint it, was starting to remind me of their NW Brown Ale. Third beer i think i can say the verdict is that Poser has the malt characteristics you would expect from a darker beer (stout, porter, barlwine) but with a drinkability of a IPA-PA. This beer needs alot more hops in it to balance out the malts. To note, they don't date their bottle,s but date the case that holds the six packs, when the case arrived in store, it was well over a month old.