Beer Valley Pigskin Pale Ale

Brewed by Beer Valley Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Ontario, Oregon USA

A nice hoppy and bitter rendition of the pale ale. Pours a burnt orange with a large head. Not as much fruit flavor as I’d hoped for, but very solid overall. Overall, good.

A nice light hop aroma. This is fairly bitter for just an APA. Interestingly though, it seems more bitter up front than in the middle, but a strong bitterness in the finish. I think, at least for today, I like the amber better.

A solid pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a three-finger thick, pale tan colored head. The beer is a amber-copper color that shows a somewhat hazy, copper color when held up to the light. The aroma smells of grapefruit up front, but a deeper inspection of the aroma yields cracker-like malt notes and a touch of orange zest.

Citrus hop notes up front meld into pine flavors and an herbal bitterness that is pretty substantial. Cracker-like grain notes, some grassy grain, a light malt sweetness (though this is on the dry side) and perhaps even a touch of stale malt notes sum up the malt contribution here. This beer does have a big hop bitterness to it, it is perhaps the most noticeable part of the flavor. This is nice and light bodied, though not watery, like a good Pale Ale should be.

A pretty simplistic Pale Ale, this is not necessarily a bad thing in a Pale Ale, but this particular example seems a bit unbalanced (even for what is generally a hoppy style). Not bad, but could be much better; the best thing about this beer is the fluffy, long lasting head.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Pours with a large, off-white head over a hazy golden orange body. Great lacing. Aroma of nuts, dirty water, citrus hops, and caramel. Taste is mellow with citrus hops and caramel. Light bubbles. Decent Pale.

Bomber courtesy of BOLTZ7555. Pours a cloudy gold with a minimal white head that leaves spotty lacing. Nose is malt and light citrus hops. Taste is malt upfront followed by tart citrus finish and a bitter resin finish. Medium mouth feel. Not a bad pale. Thanks Jason!

Wish something about this trumped the label but unfortunately, this beer was underwhelming. Honey colored brew with a solid tightly packed white head and average lacing. Aroma is fairly subtle and grassy, with some of the citrus and pine being offset by caramel malt. Flavor is much sweeter than expected...this one definitely has a malty backbone (perhaps a bit too much, actually) that takes the field instead of sitting on the sideline. Wish the grapefruit, orange peel, and douglas fir was a bit more pronounced. Good but definitely no better.

22oz bottle. Dark copper pour with an off-white head. Slight hop aroma, but not much. Wow, flavor is much more intense than the aroma, lots of smooth hop bitterness, nicely balanced, very tasty.

Nice looking PA, golden straw body with a light hazy and a soft, frothy ecru head. Good pale malt backbone, light caramel sweetness with a soft grainy body. Sharp, astringent hops upfront that really sting the palate but slowly loosens its grip to segue into a great rlight resiny hop profile with subtle pine and soft citrus notes. Well done.