Blue Mountain Full Nelson Pale Ale

Brewed by Blue Mountain Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Afton, Virginia USA

Pours amber with a nice head. Brilliantly clear. Nice restrained nose of hop and sweetness with just a hint of metallic taste. Flavor has great balance ... this is a very tasty pale ale and hides the abv and ibu well. It would be easy to drink more than a few of these. Definitely going to have to find these guys and drink this on tap.

Meidum orange color with white head. Aromas mostly of spicy earthy hops, with some sugary malt in the background-- subdued but very inviting. Spicy hops develop on the palate, smooth upfront and a bit rougher in the finish, rounded out by a medium caramel malt sweetness. Lingering bitterness in the finish, and perfect carbonation throughout. Nothing brash or showy here, just superb simplicity. Well done!

Pours caramel into the glass, with a light suds head and little retention, but leaves soapy lace. Big whiff of earthen hops, mixed with some sweetness (like caramel or toffee). This is better classified as an IPA, rather than a Pale Ale. The bold hops shine through very well, but it’s definitely the American take on a German interpretation of the English genre. There is a definite caramel/toffee integrated upfront, some toast in the middle, and a piney back-palate. Unfortunately, I believe it tries to be bigger without providing quite the substance of mouthfeel. It feels a bit zesty and thin for such a wallop of flavors. Interesting, really, as I do like the flavors at play here. I’m lacking the citrus or grapefruit qualities of a "top-tier" IPA. It feels to have a bolder American-style bitter, with the more traditional ESB British-style palate. Overall, I like it, and it would make a great session brew, but I’m a little confused stylistically.

12oz bottle stamped BB 04 2008. Poured a medium and clear orange color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of earthiness, light citrus, and some toasted caramel. The earthiness dominates. Tastes of earthiness, citrus, pine, and caramel. Decent balance in the tastes. Lacing left on the glass.

Very solid pale ale and the best of their tasting sampler. Would love to see a harvest version of this

On tap at the brewpub. My hopes were up after seeing the skill displayed with their German beers, and this didn’t disappoint. Light orange, nice head, clear. Aroma was a big shot of hops, quite spicy with some earth and pine notes in the back. The flavor was biscuity malts, followed by a big shot of citric, pine, and spicy hops, all working well with each other to produce a lingering bitter finish. I sampled this alongside their guest tap of Nectar Pale Ale, and this just blew it away. Really good beer.

Bottle. Nice pour ... pure amber, mainly clear, with a nice roiling head. The aroma is fully earthy and enticing. It doesn’t come close to hinting at the wonderful hoppy flavors within the beer, full of righteous fruity and tangy hop goodness. I gotta go find this place because this is a very, very good beer. Well done! (#3271, 1/5/2008)

On draft at the brewery, Full Nelson smells like the real deal. Piney hop notes dominate, followed by citrus, a slight floral nose, and light pure pale malt. It left plenty of hop lace and poured a clear light amber. The freshness, depth, and complexity of hop flavors stunned my palate, and the clean, un-husky pale malt did not distract. The hops also dominated the palate. I found this worth the trip, and would actually drive to central Virginia to have this again.