Clementine Pale Ale
Matt Brewing Company / Saranac Brewery

 

you can tell this one is saranac from a mile away, even if its a newer flavor from them, it follows very much in their tradition of old school tasting hoppy beer, with some crystal malt, a bit of bready sweetness from it, and a lot of finishing bitterness, almost sierra nevada inspired, they have so many beers that have done this over the years, and even though this one is modernized and jazzed up a little bit, its still very much in that pattern. a little bit of copper color to it shows its fuller malt complexion, while the tall white head has nice retention and ring lace. smells awesome, the clementine is pretty distinctive, also very forward in the mix, but seems to pull up the citrus aspects of the hops nicely as well, giving this a lot of fruity punch before the bitterness comes in. the flavor follows, with the sweet juicy orange character up front, followed by a little zesty oily bitterness, with the higher alpha hop bitterness climaxing at the swallow. lots of caramel type malts balancing this though, a touch sweet when combined with the fruit, but its only for a flash. the clementine with the selected hops is a really nice combination, and even with the bigger malt base and high hop bitterness, i could make a nice little session out of this one. great bottle drinker, a nice pizza beer, one of the better hop driven saranac beers ive had in awhile...

This delicious offering by Saranac pours a beautiful hazy gold/amber color with a white head. The notes of the citrus from the clemintine clearly come through in the odor. The taste further exhibits the citrus character, and is only slightly mitigated by a sour taste after being across the tongue for a few seconds.

I would definitely buy more of this and recommend it to beer drinkers of all levels.

Light, crisp, citrusy. Easy drinking suited for warm weather with a pleasant bouquet. Not at all what I expected, given the brewery and price point for it.

 

 

 

 

Purchased for 3.99 a six from my favorite ghetto grocery store so I am guessing it was out of date. Poured cloudy orange amber with a decent off white head. The head stayed throughout the glass and left great lacing. The smell was nothing special and bitterish. The taste was surprising considering how old it was and where it came from. The pale ale base was still there and the clementine was very present but not too overpowering. It tasted like the bitter citrus you get when you squeeze a tangerine peel and the oily juice squirts into the air. The beer was good. The warmer it became the more tasty it became because the pale ale portion became more up front. I have never been a Saranac fan but after this I will take a closer look.

 

 

 

 

Type: 12-oz. bottle
Glass: Hardwood Artisans shaker pint
From: Trader Joe’s in La Mesa (San Diego), Calif.
Price: $8.99 for a variety 2016 New Beer 12-pack
Purchased: Feb. 7, 2017
Consumed: Feb. 8, 2017
Reviewed as: American Pale Ale
Misc.: Bottled on Oct. 21, 2016; Best by March 31, 2017 at 11:23 a.m. ET

Was happy when my wife sent me a photo of this 12-pack at a recent trip to Trader Joe’s. Saranac was my gateway to craft beer and was surprised to see this variety 12-pack with all four beers ones that I had not tried yet. Throw in the $8.99 purchase price and I was in. Did not realize until I opened that the box that these were quite old. This Clementine Pale Ale was bottled on Oct. 21 with a best by March 31. Would have liked this at least six weeks earlier.

Poured a medium yellow clear color with 1-to-2 fingers of fizzy head that dissipated pretty quickly. Some single bubbles coming up from the bottom of the glass. Bad watery lacing. Bad retention. (Sight - 3.00)

Smelled pleasant whiffs of tangerine, nectarine, peach, stone fruit, orange peel, lemon zest, honey, wet Cascade and caramel malts. I’m guessing some clementine in there, but not sure I’d ever had it. (Smell - 3.75)

Taste followed the nose for the most part, getting tangerine and slightly bitter tangerine peel, nectarine, sweet oranges (clementine?), stone fruit, lemon and wet Cascade. (Taste - 3.75)

Medium-to-light body. Oily texture. Average carbonation. Abrupt slightly bitter finish. (Feel - 3.75)

Not bad, especially for being slightly passed its prime. (Overall - 3.75)

3.71 | 84 | B

 

Pours a beautiful,bright, and clean orange which might be a little off to call it a pale ale, but considering the clementine theme, it works well. White foamy head that persists and laces well. Aroma is very one dimensional, just citrus, and not very intensely at all. Flavor is better than aroma would indicate, displaying a good representation of the clementine. Sweet with a hint of tart citrus all the way. Feel is nice and refreshing, well carbonated, and does not finish overly dry. Overall, this was much better than I was expecting, and is a pretty good flavored Pale Ale. Cheers!

 

For a pale ale that promises other flavors, this really delivers. Fruity and hoppy, it's got a great balance that mingles two different styles of beer with one another.