Carolina Pale Ale

Brewed by Carolina Brewing Company
Style: English Pale Ale
Holly Springs, North Carolina USA

I have had this beer on tap and out of the bottle. It is a pretty good pale ale. The beer has some flavor, but it is fairly light. Not too hoppy, but crisp. A good beer to drink at any time.

(Bottled on 11/08/06, Best by 02/08/07) Simply a straight forward well balanced EPA. Its mostly crisp upfront with a touch of clean crystal malt that kicks in on the finish. A nice crowd pleasing ale with a subtle hop finish.

Ice cold bottle served at a preseason UNC Basketball banquet. I looked in the cooler- Miller Lite, Red Stripe, Pilsner Urquell, and this. The good ole local pale ale. I’m sure I have tried this before, but had never rated. My first bottle was ice-cold, needed a napkin to cover it just to be able to stand the coldness on my hand (im a wimp.). Did not pour out of bottle so my appearence rating will be neutral. Aroma not particularly exciting, but also not offensive- a quality I like to look for in beers I dont think will be too spectacular. At the end of a 11 hour workday, this shit really hit the spot. Albeit it was served ice-cold, but this beer had nice fruity flavors, crisp clean hops, with some creamy malts to balance it out. I enjoyed it and would happily drink again. A great session beer.

Tap: Not much here. It poured a yellowed amber with a thin white head. The aroma was mildly sweet, grainy, with an herbal bitterness and an odd note of cold chrome. It’s got a creamy mouthfeel but not a heap of flavor. What’s there is a grainy malt, lightly sweetened, with a subtle floral hopping. I suppose "English Pale Ale" is as good as anything else to call it.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Mushroom, Raleigh, NC<font size=-1>

Pint @ Red, Hot & Blue BBQ Cary. Served in a frozen pint glass. : ( Sweet aroma, a sour yeastiness shows up. Nutty, mealy, grainy. Clean golden orange color, small head that faded quickly, minor lacing. Bittersweet flavor. Like aroma, with the graininess, but has a metallic bitterness. Little honey. Kind of lagerish. Medium body, lite creamy mouthfeel, bitter finish. Got better as it warmed as it was served to cold. A lawnmower ale.

From notes 9/17/03: Pours a clear light amber gold color with a modest white head. There was exquistie lacing for me, leaving a true Belgian lace design. Aromas were fairly mild, with malts dominating the slight hoppy scent. The hoppy air was mostly floral, but a slight slight citrus feel to it too. The taste was dry. A malty ale that had a smidge of hoppiness to it. A crisp clean taste. Very dry finish. Not a busy pale ale. Very reserved and clean. Mouthfeel on the thin side. Very drinkable in the NC heat.

Decent interpretation of the style. Pours a goldish amber in color with a small white head.Yeasty aroma with definite floral hops. Flavor is slightly sweeter than a typical English pale ale, but nice. Bitter on the back end with a pleasant lingering hop finish. Not bad.

This is pretty much a middle of the road beer. Nice and drinkable and much better than swill, but not great. It had some hop flavor, but not as smooth as I would have liked to see it.