Babes 29 Palms Pale Ale

Brewed by Babes Bar-B-Que Grill & Brewhouse
Style: American Pale Ale
Rancho Mirage, California USA

Part of the tasting platter at Babe’s BBQ & Brewhouse in Rancho Mirage. Deep bronzy gold, clear, scant lacy head. Low aroma of spicy hops and clean grains. Light caramel malt and spicy floral hops. Low-medium bitterness. A mild rendition of the style, but pleasant.

On tap at the brewpub. This is a pretty typical APA: citric and pine hops, but not over the top, with a malt back bone. Not bad.

Tap at brewpub: Aroma was fairly typical... hoppy citrus, pine, grapefruit and some other fruits with light caramel. A solid APA.

Good typical pale, fairly clear, citrus pine hop, balance with malt, no head really but good drinking beer.

This beer is a classic American pale ale by style with lots of good, tangy/citric hop character. Pale Ale is a West Coast favorite, and they are very popular in California, the state that really put this style of pale ale on the map. 29 Palms Pale Ale is a classic example of the style, with lots of good pale malt flavors, paired with those signature piney/citrus hop aromas, flavors, and bitterness, that really define APA as a style. 29 Palms Pale Ale pours to a deep golden to light amber color with a thick and creamy white head, and a good bit of carbonation. The nose on this beer smacks you with pungent aromas of lemon, grapefruit, and pine. The palate is firm with lot pale and sweet malt flavor, paired with a nice under current of tangy/juicy grapefruit hop flavor. 29 Palms Ale finishes with more malt and tangy hops up front, then ends with a dry, citric/piney hop flavor that lingers. This is a very well done APA from a very good brewery located in the Southern California desert town of Rancho Mirage. This was the perfect aperitif beer to sip and relax with before I dug into some really tasty BBQ, and it would work well with a number of dishes on Babe’s menu. 29 Palms Pale Ale is an oasis in the desert, it will quench the thirst of any beer lover, and deliver plenty of hop aroma, flavor, and bitterness. If you ever find yourself in the Palm Springs/Rancho Mirage area, a trip to Babe’s is worth it, and 29 Palms Pale Ale is well worth trying.

Clear amber body with virtually no head. Faintly hoppy aroma of pine, grapefruit, some light resin, caramel, whole grains and a touch of lemon zest. The body is fairly standard, if perhaps a little dull. The carbonation was fairly low and didn’t excite the tongue. The flavor showed more hops and was definitely on the bitter side. Some residual sweetness existed and gave some depth to the hoppy body. With some more body and higher carbonation, I think a lot things would be better in this beer. As it is, it’s a low to average APA.

Clear reddish copper, good head formation. Balanced malt, piney hop aroma. Sweet caramel, sugarry malt flavor, citric hoppy balance. Typical APA.