Berkshire Steel Rail Extra Pale Ale

Brewed by Berkshire Brewing Co.
Style: American Pale Ale
South Deerfield, Massachusetts USA

22 oz. bottle. Pours a slightly hazy light gold with a soapy white head that lasted less than halfway through the glass. Pleasant aroma of sweet malt, grassy hops, and some yeast. Flavor was tilted a bit to the sweet side, but not excessive. After the initial wave of malt, the hops kick in with some citrus resulting in a crisp, but not dry, finish. Enjoyable.

(22 oz bottle: Obtained 24-Feb-06 in trade with Eyedrinkale, thanks Mike!) Grain, grass, dust, orange zest, and a bit of funk in the nose, but it’s only lighter aromatic overall, with little in the way of classic hop aroma. The beer has a pleasant flavor, but it’s all up front, with things fading off the palate quickly in an uninteresting finish. Extremely grainy malts set a prominent base, the grassy, dusty hops contributes plenty of additional flavor without much bitterness, and a light note of orange peel shows up in the finish. Light-medium in body with enough carbonation to make me burpy. Bright golden orange in color and fully cloudy, it’s unusual to not be able to see through a beer this color, but this beer isn’t the least bit transparent. The snow white head is bubbly in nature rather than creamy, and after peaking at a quarter inch, it settles back to a filmy layer. The bubbles don’t leave any lacing on the glass, instead dissipating about as quickly as the head. So not a bad beer, but it’s an extra pale ale, and the way they’ve brewed this beer, it’s not really my thing. It’s light and pleasant and wouldn’t mind drinking a cold pint of this now and again when I’m looking for something refreshing on a hot day. But I definitely wouldn’t drink this with any regularity.

Pretty sure I got a bad draft from a bartender at Westwood Pub, who was not too knowledgeable. This one poured pretty flat and only had a strong malty aroma. Flavor was much of the same with almost no hoppiness detected. Somthing went wrong with the batch, or this just isn’t a pale ale.

Not very exciting, I’ll say that much. I hate how brewers make their "flagship beer" their blandest one. American Pale Ale... it was pretty much doomed from the start. Anyway, this is a lighter beer, decently crisp but lacking any kind of punch. Pass.

(draft) Clear straw body with white head. Aroma is medium sweet, apple, faint herb/grassy. Taste is medium sweet, apple, light grassy. Watery light body with light crispness.

Lots of resin and some sweeter citrus, orange oil, maple syrup, candied nuts, very nice malt complexity, smooth, mild mouthfeel, clean sharp finish.

For rating #100, I pulled out an old favorite from my college days while visiting my brother back on campus. Bottle. Pours a light pale golden color, fluffy white head, good lacing. Body is completely transparent, some light bubbles. Nose is fruity and malty, strength on the light side. Gently sweet in the mouth, a slight bitterness from the hops in the finish, but good balance with some apricoty overtones. Mouthfeel is crisp, light, nicely carbonated. My buddies and I used to drink this by the pitcher at our local college pub, and I always had a bomber in the fridge back home. It’s one of the beers that really got me into drinking great beer, so a good deal of nostalgia in this one (and a fitting beer to celebrate joining the 100 club). Here’s to the next step!

Acquired via trade. Light amber color with a medium off-white head and stringy lacing. Malt and some floral hops in the nose. Medium body with mild bitterness, sweet malt and hops along with a bit of fruit flavoring. None of the flavors is very assertive but it is a refreshing concoction. The finish is dry and hoppy. Pretty simple overall and it would make a very good lawnmower beer.