Chelsea Blizzard Pale Ale

Brewed by Chelsea Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
New York, New York USA

On draft at Spuyten Duyvil. Pours a cloudy orange copper with a medium beige head. Hoppy aroma with hints of faint citrus. Taste is hoppy with a citrus flavor.

Draught at Brazen Head. Slightly hazy orange/copper. Aroma marked by sharp grapefruit hops. Caramel malt flavor with sharp, resiny, almost aspiriny citrus/pine hops. Great for a sessionable hop fix, but could be better with more depth in the malt side.

Tap at Barcade. Amber orange beer, thick white head. Creamy. Aroma is very fresh and hoppy. Orange peel, pine and a nice sweet caramelly base maltiness as well. There is a nice toasted malt character as well. A fairly earthy bitter flavour with little trace of the orange and pine that is so prominent in the nose. Earthy and woody with a fairly resinous component. Very hoppy and probably up into IPA territory. The balance is good and the flavour is good, but it needs a bit more character to really stand out.

Cask at HDG. Deep amber in color with a white fluffy head. Caramel malty hoppy aroma. Toffee earthy notes. Malty hoppy flavor. Finish is dry. Decent tasting. Drinkable.

Cask at HDG. Creamy, moonlike head. Reminds me of Sixpoint Brownstone. Caramel, nutty and fresh cracked grains. Decent hoppiness makes me think of a mixed bag of hops. Nothing too distinct.

Draft at Barcade. Amber pour with thin off-white head. There was significant dry-hopping in this one, and it didn’t seem like much of a winter seasonal. The hops were not very good ones either, just slightly metallic, and the beer was some bland malt otherwise.

On tap at the Barcade. Don’t remember much about the color, but the flavor and aroma were dominated by what I perceived as dry hopping. Not too much balance in either the flavor or the aroma. Overall it was below average for the style.