484. Hilliard’s Beer – Nautical Reference Pale Ale

Posted By kkozlen on Oct 5, 2012 | 0 comments

It’s been a long day already in Seattle, Washington, where I’ve been the last few days for a conference for work.  It’s my last day here, and I’ve already stopped at several places, and had several beers, including the Totem Pale Northwest Ale and Trickster IPA at Black Raven Brewing, the Harlot’s Harvest Pumpkin Ale and Space Needle Golden Anniversary IPA from Pike Brewing Co, the Robust Porter at Reuben’s Brews, and the Redoubt Red at NW Peaks Brewery.  Now my cousin and I went to Hilliard’s Beer.  They have a pretty large brewery and a cool, wide-open tap room with old cable spools for tables, and they were preparing for their one-year anniversary celebration the next day.  Also, I loved the unique, can-shaped glass my beer was served in.

Location: On tap and served in a can-shaped glass at Hilliard’s Beer brewery and taproom in Seattle, WA.

Numbers: 5% ABV, 55 IBU, 160 Calories

Ingredients: Malt: Maris Otter and a touch of Chocolate for color and complexity. Hops: Summit and Cascade hops from Yakima for aroma and restrained bitterness.

Appearance & Aroma: It’s orange-amber in color and lightly hazy. It had a soapy-looking head that wrapped around the edge of the glass, and left a little bit of lacing.  The aroma was lightly malty with some spicy-citrusy hops.

Taste & Feel: The body was medium and the mouthfeel was somewhat crisp.  The flavor up front was bready-malty with some honey-like notes.  However, the citrusy and grassy hop flavors kicked in fairly quickly, growing in bitterness trhough the finish.  The hop flavors in the finish were citrusy, grassy, and lightly spicy.  The hop flavors in the finish lasted into the aftertasted for a minute or so.

Food Pairing: This beer had a good bready malt backbone up front, with a mix of hop flavors and bitterness in the middle and finish.  I think this beer would go perfectly with some solid foods accented with bread, such as a thick juicy burger, or a thick, bready, crust pizza.

Overall Impression: This pale ale definitely leaned toward the hoppy side, but it was obvious up front that it had a good amount of malt backbone.  I thought this was an extremely drinkable beer, yet it had plenty of flavor and character.  Similar to when I had their Amber Ale, there wasn’t a whole lot unique about this beer, but it was a solid, drinkable beer.

My Rating: