Fish Tale Blonde Ale

Brewed by Fish Brewing Company/Leavenworth Beers
Style: Golden Ale/Blond Ale
Olympia, Washington USA

Seventh stop during the ABA Beer Tour ’07 in Olympia, Washington. Final brew sampled on tap at the Fish Tale brewpub. Pours a clear golden pale blonde brew with a decent light white head that slowly dissipates to a fine film. Aroma of light biscuity malt, a touch of citrus hops and some earthy herbs. Taste is a fruity malt, light body and low carbonated with a multi-grain biscuity flavor. Finish is clean, crispt and no bitter aftertaste. Very refreshing.

Tasted at the May Northern California Beer Tasting. This blond ale pours a golden yellow color from a 12oz bottle. Small sized white foamy head. The aroma is fruity and sweet, touch of vanilla. A medium bodied blond/golden ale. The malts are fruity and sweet. The hops are mild and slightly spicy. Crisp and clean. A light and refreshing tasting beer, with no major taste defects, but not a lot of flavor either. Nice balance. Good carbonation. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet and fruity.

Bottle with Poperinge. Orange-gold. Thin skiff. Soft warm orange and vanilla flavour.

Light golden color with a slightly peppery herbal hop quality. Stays on the sweeter side with a hard mineral palate. Malts were fruity wit a dry grainy taste and stayed sweet through the herbal hop finish.

12-oz. Gah. Why do they always blow off this style? Summer beers are where you convert the most new craft beer drinkers--effervescent palate, vibrant flavors from real ingredients, maximum thirst among casual beer fans and BMC drinkers.
But too many craft brewers squander this golden opportunity with beers like Fish Blonde.
Pours crystal clear dark straw with a now you see it now you don’t moussy white head. Not much lace. Gargantuan open-a-bad-nasty-can-o’-DMS-on-ya rotten vegetable nose. Watery, and not so much flat as having hollow carb. Not sure what that is, never seen it before. Force carbed somehow? More DMS skank on the mid-palate and then no finish at all except for wanting to drink something else.
Ya gotta hand it to a brewer who finds they’ve screwed up their beer somehow and then takes advantage of the opportunity to get lots of other mistakes out of their system. Fish makes so many other *awesome* beers that maybe this one is just the voodoo doll for the others.

A terrific golden ale, very similar in profile to their pale ale, but not quite as heavily hopped. That being said, the hop character is still fairly generous, giving this beer lots of flavour.

Very present rye bread in the aroma, that completely ruins the flavor profile, I would not ever think of making this type of beer with an addition of rye. A very present alcohol weight, honey and just a hint of herbal hoppiness.

Had in the beer garden at the Green Festival at the Seattle Convention Center with my girlfriend. 59th rating of this brew. My 58th Golden/Blonde Ale Rate! Light aroma with hints of sweetness, bread, and biscuits. Some earthy hops as well. Pours golden with a nice fluffy head and some chill haze. Pleasantly sweet light malty notes, bread, biscuits, and a crisp earthy hop finish. It’s a blonde ale, it tastes earthy like many organics do, but it is more pleasant than many.