Great Lakes Burning River (Pale Ale)

I've been on kind of a Pale Ale kick lately. I'm not sure exactly why, but I've been extremely partial to them and enjoying nearly every single one. Great Lakes offers a great selection of brews and from what I had heard, their offering of a Pale Ale is no slouch. Great Lakes describes Burning River as an assertively hopped American Pale Ale with citrusy and piney Cascade hops. Subtle malt flavors balance the hop profile and provide a satisfying dry finish. The ABV is 6% and the IBU is 45.

A: Beer pours a deep copper/amber color with a one finger head with very good retention. Very sticky lacing is present on the glass.

S: Floral and citrus pretty much dominate the scent. The lemon/grapefruit scent is pretty dominant. Past the floral and citrus notes there is a little bit of malt sweetness to be discovered.

T: Sweet malts up front, which quickly give away to a bitterness of grapefruit and zesty lemon. The bitterness is very mild although lingers for a little while after each sip.

M: Medium bodied with medium carbonation. It's not as dry of a finish as I was expecting, but I won't complain about it.

O: It's a very good offering from what is considered a very good brewery. Is it the best pale ale that I have ever had? Of course not.. but it's not bad by any stretch. It's a very well balanced beer that I wouldn't reject if it were offered to me.

Grade: Two Thumbs Up and no doubt about it. No reason why you shouldn't try this beer!

Ommegang BPA

I've had two other beers from Ommegang;   Hennepin and Witte.   Both of these beers were absolutely delicious, so when I saw this beer on tap, naturally I couldn't resist.   If I have good beer after good beer from a brewery, I will stay pretty loyal to the brewery and go down their lineup.
Ommegang BPA is Ommegang's version of  a true Belgian style Pale Ale.  BPA comes brewed with 5 malts and 3 hops (Columbus, Celeia, and Cascade.)  The ABV for BPA isn't overly high, although it is above normal..   It weighs in at 6.2% so it's not ideal for a session brew, but the ABV isn't too high where you can't have a few of them.

A: Slightly hazy golden-orange color with a two finger head.   The head fades slowly down to about one finger and doesn't really recede past that.   Fairly sizable lacing is left on the glass while drinking.

S:  Spice and clove notes dominate the smell.   There are also tropical fruits and bubblegum scents present as well.  It's a very nice smelling beer.   They usually don't smell this good in my opinion.   After smelling it, I could not wait to taste it.

T:  The forefront of the taste is dominated by an initial spicy citrus flavor.   Also present is  bit of herbal hoppy bite in the middle and an earthy bitterness on the end.

M: This is a medium bodied beer with fairly lively carbonation.   I'd probably rate it as a medium to high carbonation.   A very crisp beer.  It's very drinkable.   I only had one of these but I could have definitely had a few more of them easily.  Great tasting beer and easy to drink it. 

O:  This beer impressed the hell out of me.   I wasn't really even looking to have a Pale Ale when I had it,  but Ommegang is a fantastic brewery from my experiences so I couldn't resist.   I would highly recommend this beer to anyone regardless of the style of beer they favor.   I'd give this beer a very confident two thumbs up.