Craftsman Orange Grove Ale

Brewed by Craftsman Brewing Co.
Style: Fruit Beer
Pasadena, California USA

Sampled on tap at Lucky Baldwin’s, June 2007
The beer is lightly hazy with a darkish honey amber color. The head is frothy, tan colored and starts out about a finger and a half thick and even leaves some lacing on the sides of my glass. The aroma is not as orange smelling as I was expecting; soft notes of oranges zest, some pith aromatics (which could be a malt contribution). There is a touch of biscuit like malt, but all in all the aroma is quite muted overall.

The taste is lightly sweet and citrus flavors accentuate a light tartness. This almost has a creamy mouthfeel to it, though it is quite light bodied. There is something here that reminds me of watered down orange juice (I would hope that actual juice was not used for this, but you never know). This is not bad, but it seems a bit washed out. It makes me wonder if they in fact did use orange juice instead of orange peel (which is actually were a lot of the flavor is).

Had on tap at the Stone 10th party. Aroma is big time orange blossoms and fresh oranges. The flavor is very light, not overpowering. Nice refreshing brew.

Draft version served at Wild Haire in LA. It was very orange/amber with white head. Aside from heavy cloudiness, it was appropriate color for a pale ale. The aroma pushed the point a little: strong malts, but very strong citrus smells - the citrusy hops and the fresh orange complemented each other very well. The flavor was quite pleasant - well balanced citrus bitterness and malt sweetness along with real orange citrus flavors that added some sweetness and some acid. The flavor reminded me of an american pale ale because of so much citrus, but I think that was due to the orange - unfortunately the brewer’s website has no details on the brew. I was pleasantly surprised. Overall, the orange flavors complemented the citrus hops very well and this was one of the best fruit beers I’ve tasted.

(Draft: Pizza Port in Solana Beach, CA) I never have seen a "normal" beer from Craftsman on tap in San Diego, and here’s another oddball. The name makes me think this might be a girlie beer, so we’ll see. It pours a sickly looking, muddy, murky orange brown color, totally cloudy, reminiscent of, well, diarrhea. Sorry, that’s what it looks like. The small, off-white head dissipates completely within a few minutes. The aroma of fermenting orange juice leaps out of the glass. Pretty potent, it’s hard to smell anything else, but some ginger seems to be in the mix too. Certainly doesn’t smell like beer, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and in this case, despite the awful sounding description, the nose still manages to be somewhat pleasant. Strong orange citrus flavor, minimally sweet, a bit tart actually, moderately bitter, some Belgian spices, but a pretty light malt base. Spice and citrus really dominate the flavor. Light-to-medium body, fairly clean on the palate from the tartness, light bitterness and spiciness. Not a beer I’ve enjoyed all that much, but it’s certainly a very interesting beer, which always seems to be the case with Craftsman. And oh yeah, one more thing. This is definitely not a girlie beer.

Tap @ Lucky Baldwins, Pasadena Spicy note, slightly estery, a bit smoke maybe. Murky Orange brown, no head. Cointreau note, ends a bit on the harsh side. Light body.

Murky orange-ish brown pour with a slight white head. Very faint orange blossom nose. Watery body with just a hint of bitter orange in the background. Was expecting the fruit to be more pronounced. Slight bitterness in the finish.

On tap at Lucky Baldwins, Pasadena. Hazy orange beer: small persistent, creamy head and some lacing. Slightly wheaty aroma and quite fizzy. Sharp to start off with, levels out to a calm, faintly orange, wheaty taste. Lingering cardboard flavour. Undramatic, but certainly drinkable. (thanks be to ALH)

Sampled at Pizza Port Solana Beach. Pours a cloudy orange with a ghost white small head. Looks very quenching. Aroma is sweet, fruity, and citrus...much like an orange juice factory. The flavor is malty sweet at first with a fruity citrus finish. Medium body with semi-dry finish. One of the better fruit beers I've tasted.