Pale Ale Taste Test: v1.0

Every now and then one has a great idea. However, one rarely ever gets the chance to execute such an idea. In my case the best ideas seem to come around when I least expect them and fortunately they often involve beer. This time around it was in the form of a linear blind taste test. The theory behind this practice is that if you are unaware of the beer you are drinking, then all biases are removed and you can decide if you like the beer or not. Also, all preconceived notions about the flavor profile are removed and you are able to not only judge the beer with an even hand, but you can also try and take a stab at which beer you think you might be drinking. It's fun and scientific!!!

When setting up a "Blind Taster", as they have come to be known to me and my fellow beer drinking cohort, I have found that the best ones group together beers of a similar type or season. While I am no beer judge, nor do I really know what each type should taste like... I do know what I like and what I don't. In this instance Pale Ales were the name of the game. While this beer type has the tendency of being all over the board in taste, I decided that I would pick some fairly well known California Pale's and see how each stacked up to the other.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, North Coast Red Seal, Bear Republic XP, and Hoppy Brewing Co. Liquid Sunshine. (The later is technically a golden ale, but this was a hasty trip to BevMo and the liquid sunshine is a damn good beer!!)

The beer was poured into unmarked glasses, they were numbered from left to right 1-4 respectively. I drank them and ranked them...

Ranking:

1) 2nd (tie)

2) 2nd (tie)

3) 4th

4) 1st (favorite)

Results:

1) Hoppy Brewing Co. Liquid Sunshine

2) Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

3) Bear Republic XP

4) North Coast Red Seal

Short Reviews:

1)Hoppy Brewing Co. Liquid Sunshine

This beer was sort of the black sheep of the group as it was radically different from the rest. It is not really a pale ale so much as a really hoppy golden ale. However, it may be the only thing that Hoppy Brewing makes that would even fit with these others. So, with that in mind it is a good beer regardless. Light and crisp with a good hop aroma and flavor. The malt is well balanced with the hops. Citrus flavors come through and it is probably the beer I would see myself drinking in the summertime.

2) Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

This was the most unexpected answer overall. I thought that this beer was anything but Sierra Nevada. If I had to break the tie on taste alone, this would be 3rd. Since it is actually a pale ale I decided to make it a tie. I felt it was a little bland and uninteresting. The hop aroma was subdued and although balanced with the malt it was a little thinner than I was expecting given the color. Not a bad beer at all. Perhaps I have had too much of this beer in the past and my taste buds are saying "enough already"...

3)Bear Republic XP

This was definitely the least favorite by far. The malt was over the top and sweet as hell. Very caramel like. There was a little hop flavor, no aroma, and a very heavy mouthfeel. I would not drink this beer if I had a choice. I will however give Bear Republic the benefit of the doubt as I think that this beer may have been under-fermented (things happen). I have had the XP before and remember a much different beer.

4)North Coast Red Seal

This beer is amazingly good. I thought without a doubt this was Sierra Nevada... I was incontrovertibly wrong! The hop aroma was upfront and the balance between the malt and hops were perfectly harmonious. Just the right amount of bitter. I really enjoyed this beer alot! It may be the best Pale Ale available. Although as always, more testing is required.

Note: This really ended up being a battle between Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and North Coast Red Seal. The others were kind of peripheral in the tasting as I really felt like hashing it out between these two beers that I like so much. Red Seal prevails...