Barrel House Cumberland Pale Ale

Brewed by Barrel House Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Cincinnati, Ohio USA

Bomber. Pours clear, deep golden color with a nice medium sized soapy white head with good retention and plentiful lace. Aroma is nice citrus like hops(Cascade?) on top of a toasted malt profile. Stylistically the aroma is right on and what I’d expect from this style. The hops are not intense but they are very pleasant - orange and grapefruit with just a touch of strawberry, very soft and not resiny. Just a really nice fresh, balanced aroma. Flavor is pretty much in line with the aroma. Appropriate bitterness, certainly present though not astringent or distracting. Toasty, slightly caramel like malt notes overshine the flavor hops, leaning more malty in the flavor where the hops were more present in the aroma, though there are some hops in the taste too. Body is pretty dry with a dry, long, slightly bitter finish. This is all around a great Pale Ale. Really similar to Sierra Nevada and maybe a touch better, certainly the apparent bitterness is more from my memory. This bottle was super fresh, it’s not bottle dated but I got it right when it was delivered to the store so my sample is probably a lot better than what some other people are drinking in the bottled form. But this is one of the best pales I’ve had and I think it’s pretty underrated.

Bomber. Poured clear brighter orange with a short cap of beige head. The aroma picked up a lovely array of malts, and perhaps the hops have faded.. aged toffee and caramel accented by mild spicy floral notes.. old or not, it was positively delightful! The flavor had the same toffee leading the way, which left a dry, grainy trail all the way through the long-ish finish.. bitterness was low-to-moderate, with pine, light citrus, and floral notes represented.. a little sharp on the back, but it was still quite tasty. Medium-bodied with lower carbonation on the palate.. spicy and drier, especially on the back.. older than it probably should be, but I really enjoyed it.

Pours gold/amber with a thin off-white head that shows minimal lacing. Nose is faint soap and pine/grapefruit hops. Flavor is initially bitter pine hops that warms to a rounded creamy malt flavor. Charcoal flavor in the aftertaste. Rather watery. Moderate bitterness, maybe 50 IBUs. Simple but flavorful APA.

Pours a hazy golden orange with a big three finger head that shows strong retention as some minimal lacing. It smells very light and fruity, like applesauce, with a good bit of light grains. Taste is also very light with grains and a very faint hop presence dominated by light fruits. Mouthfeel is very light with heavy carbonation - crisp and clean. This beer is fairly drinkable despite being relatively nondescript in terms of taste and mouthfeel.

Pours a fairly light amber with a big off white head. Aroma is citrusy grapefruit like hops with some malt to round it out. Taste is nice and hoppy with a good malt background as well. Pretty good.

Hazed light copper color with a moderate fluffy ecru head. Light caramel and grapefruit zest aromas. The aromas just don’t do it for me. There is a amber quality that when I run into it, I have a hard time with. Flavors are there with the aromas. Someday I will put a finger on the small and flavor combination that I have a hard time with in so many ambers and pales. A mix of light raisins, caramel, figs and other stuff. Dryer in the finish and linger. With some metal late in the linger. I find it somewhat water as well. As I took the last gulp, I finally came up with the aroma/flavor that annoys me in so many pales and ambers, it’s the smell that emanates from the sharpening of a new #2 pencil. Some pine and carbon, along with the mild paint.

22oz bottle. pours hazy golden with huge white head. infection type pour. smells infected, sour bandaidy. flavor, here we go, okay not too bad, biscuity, citrusy, the infection is noticed more in aroma than flavor but its still there and bandaidy. i cant drink this stuff.

Bomber. Opaque medium gold body with a rocky, off white, slightly yellowish head. Ivory soap and grapefruit are in the nose. There is also a pleasant nutty note, but that is dominated by the soapy chemical smell. Yes, the glass was neutral smelling before. The taste has some lightly toasted almonds and very mild sugared grapefruit juice. Strangely blanced, it is not hop dominant, but there isn’t much in the way of malt body, either. Boring, more than anything.