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!

Dale's Pale Ale

Dale's Pale Ale is the flagship beer of Oskar Blues brewery out of Boulder CO.   It's America's first hand canned craft beer.   It's widely regarded as one of the best canned beers you can buy as well as one of the best beers altogether.   It's helped to change the way that canned beer is perceived in the craft beer community.   Dale's Pale Ale is an American Pale Ale that weighs in at 6.5% ABV with 65 IBUs.  According to the can it says "A Huge Voluminously Hopped Mutha of a Pale Ale."   I'm expecting it to be super hoppy, which I normally don't like, but lately I've been diggin' every beer.  So I have high expectations for this brew.
Let's get this show on the road.

A:  Let me just start off by saying I love the look of this can.   Love the colors and overall appearance of the can.  It's just great packaging for what is regarding as such a great beer.  The beer itself has a burnt orange color with a fairly white one finger head.   The head dissipates rather quickly but leaves the glass colored in lacing which I'm sure will just accumulate with drinking.

S:  Citrus hops are dominating in presence.   Wow, extremely heavy on the grapefruit and orange peel in this one.  There are also some floral style hops present.   Can't forget about the sweet, smooth malts either.  Based on the scent, I can't wait to try this beer.

T:  Had to get a second mouthful of the beer before I had to even stop to think about how it tasted.   It's got quite the taste to it.  It's not as hoppy as the scent would allow you to believe.   The citrus hops are definitely present in the taste, don't get me wrong.   Heavy grapefruit and orange taste which gives away to a spicy flavor.  There are also some coffee/toffee flavored malts on the finish.  The aftertaste is citrus hops.  Definitely a great taste.  

M:  Medium bodied with low carbonation.   It's smooth and velvety.

D:  A beer you could have 3-4 of and not blink an eye.   Although not a true session beer due to the ABV being above 5%, but I could see drinking these one after another.

Grade:  Two thumbs up and no if ands or buts about it.

Drifter Pale Ale

I normally don't like pale ales and I try to stay away from them because I fear the "normal" pine hop bite they have. I guess, to be honest, the only reason I grabbed this beer was because I have Widmer Hefeweizen stashed away in my fridge right now. It was a friendly sounding beer because the name was familiar. That's pretty much about it. Drifter Pale Ale sits in at a 5.7% ABV with 32 IBUs. The Widmer Brothers Brewing Company calls Drifter Pale Ale truly an original. Due to it being brewed with generous amounts of Summit hops, a variety known for their intense citrus flavors and aromas, Drifter has a taste unique to the Pale Ale category. True to style, the bittering hops are perceptible enough to give the beer a crisp, clean, quenching finish, yet also soft enough to keep the beer smooth and balanced.




A - Pours an orange-amber color with a frothy white cap. There was pretty good head retention throughout the tasting with decent lacing from a nice ring and cloud that stayed on the top of the beer.

S - Huge aroma of hoppiness and light caramel malts with traces of some pine.

T - A different taste based on the scent. Surpising. Citrus hops are present in the taste which I didn't find at all in the scent, even after I was tasting the beer. The finish is made up totally of bready and caramel malts. It's a great tasting beer, very flavorful, something I wasn't expecting at all.

M - Low bodied and slightly thin. Low carbonation also. Interesting how there's barely any aftertaste, it just rolls right off the tongue.

D - It's refreshing and sessionable. It's crisp and smooth to drink. Although it's a pale ale, it really has no true bitterness substance to it.


Grade - Two thumbs up! I'm not really sure it deserves the pale ale title, but it is what it is I guess. It's not a true pale ale, but a great beer regardless of what it is. I'd definitely recommend this beer to others. It's just a shame it's all the way across the country from me in Oregon.