Posted By kkozlen on Jan 22, 2013 | 1 comment

The kids have the day off school today for a teacher in-service day. So, I had to stay home with them. It was nice to get some work done around the house this morning, and I just took a break for lunch. Since I didn’t have to go to work today, I thought, “why not have a beer at lunch?” My friend Joe gave me this beer while I was helping him move this past fall, and I figured it was time to pop the top on this kick ass looking can.

Location: Poured into a Stella Artois chalice from the 1 pint can at my home in Bloomington, IL.

Numbers: 5.2% ABV, ~ 180 Calories

Ingredients: The can says, Galaxy hops on the side.

Appearance & Aroma: It’s golden in color and fairly clear, with a good amount of carbonation in it. However, there was a decent amount of sediment in it when I get to the bottom of the can. The head is big, white, and foamy, with some great retention. The aroma is citrusy, with a little bit of pale malt breadiness in the background.

Taste & Feel: The body is light and the mouthfeel is crisp. The flavors up front were a balance of breadiness and citrusy hoppiness, with a mix of lemon, grapefruit and light pineapple-like hop flavors. Those hop flavors grow in the middle, overtaking the bready malts a little. The citrusy hop flavors peak in the finish, joined by a hefty amount of bitterness. The citrusy hop flavors stick around briefly in the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: This beer had a good amount of citrusy flavor and bitterness with some breadiness in the background.  Due to the citrusy nature of this beer, I’d go with something light, like a light fish seasoned with lemon and dill.  If you wanted something a little thicker, this could also go very nicely with a lemon butter shrimp pasta.

Overall Impression: This beer had a unique hop flavor and bitterness, with an undertone of pineapple-like taste in with the citrusy flavors.  However, it wasn’t powerful, just enough to make it unique and noticeable.  In fact, this was an extremely drinkable beer.  The bready malt background remained present throughout most of the drink, and the hops had just the right amount of flavor and bitterness to keep it (on my subjective scale) in the correct range for a pale ale.  The hop flavors, and the fact that it’s in a can, make it a perfect beer for summer at the beach.

My Rating: