Barrel House Cumberland Pale Ale

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

Not very good. It needs way more hops to be a pale ale, as is, more of a bitter. Light hop aroma with light malt in the flavor. A simple session beer, but it doesn’t even pull that off very well. Definitely not aggressive or hoppy.

Copper color with no head. No discernible aroma. Sickeningly sweet malt flavor that has almost turned moldy. No hops. Brewfiend deserves to be flogged for subjecting us to this, however, based on the other ratings here, we may have gotten a bad bottle. To be re-rated...

Sampled at Cellar’s Wine & Spirits IPA Nite in St Paul, MN. Pours an orange amber brew with an off white thin head. Nice lacing. Aroma has orange citrus, caramel, and a touch of pine hops. Taste is smooth with character of toffee, barley malt and some spice. Palate is a little flat and some orange citrus peel aftertaste. It could use a little more hops.

Pour is a bright orange with a small white head. Aroma. is wonderful with lots of bready malts and a nice hop backbone. Flavor is about the same but a little off. Some malts and a a nice dose of the hops. This is still a pretty good APA.

Floral hoppy nose with a hint of malt. Orange color with minimal head. Nice refreshing orange citrus flavor with some floral hop on the tail end. A good summer beer.

Clear, medium gold in color, with a thin white head. Excellent retention and statuesque columnal lacing. In spite of this, this beer looks very wimpy. Sugary, toasty grains and an obvious though subdued Cascade hop aroma. Light DMS noted. Not off to a good start. In the flavor, mild hoppiness brings about quite mild bitterness. For such a low alcohol offering, it’s overly noticeable. Balanced, erring on the malty side, dissapointing for an American pale ale. Low amounts of bittering and even lower amounts of aromatic hops. Light sweetness and low acidity. Medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall this just isn’t very refreshing. Finishes moderately malty and lightly bitter, a brief finale but for a lingering sugary sweetness not all that different from saccharine. No dice.

Bottle... Clear amber ale with a small, creamy, white head. Very good retention. Floral, fruity nose with a toffee note and a barely detectable, spicy phenol. The flavor is medium sweet and mildly bitter. The bitterness intensifies a bit after the swallow, but never really kicks in. Medium-bodied with a lightly oily mouthfeel and moderate carbonation. Finishes mostly sweet. Thanks to shigadeyo for sending this one my way!

I have to say I like these BH descriptions. "A long arduous trip from Cincinnati to Tennessee"? What is that like 200 - 300 miles compared to the voyage from England to India? Give me a break. Here is an "arduous" rating. Based on the recent Stone Pale Ale rating this is fairly even, and that came from San Diego! If you thought Stone was a good PA then you will like this, even if it is below average.