Flossmoor Station Farewell Pale Ale

Brewed by Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery
Style: American Pale Ale
Flossmoor, Illinois USA

Draft at FSRB. Dark orange body, a bit of haze and a puffy pale ale head. Big smell of pine and orange rind from hops, plus a bit of grass and earth. Familiar PNW hoppy taste, with a citrus pucker, pine needles and a bit of Amaraillo burn, all the hop flavors that make us think of Matt. And wouldn’t you know, I’ve managed to get back out to FS on the night BEFORE they tap Bryan’s first specialty beer. Sorry, Bryan, I’ll have to inflict my opinions on you later.

Draft at Flossmoor. Pours hazy staw color. Aroma is citrus hop and earth. Pretty hoppy for a pale and very clean. Not a ton of malt although there is enough. Dry, bitter and refreshing.

Aroma of an IPA, citrusy american hops. Flavor of an IPA. Easily one of the best APA’s I’ve ever had.

This poured a nice orange color with a slightly off white head. Aroma was mainly of piney hops, lots and lots of them. Flavor was a little more subdued than the nose, but still contained lots of notes of pine and citrus with juast enough backbone for it to not be a crazy IPA. This to me seemed like shimkos younger brother.

On tap at Flossmoor. Pours golden orange with a foamy off-white head. Aroma is of hops, citrus, spice, and malt. Taste is way hoppier than I had anticipated. Notes of caramel, citrus, spice, and a tad bit of pine. Had a nice malt backbone that didn’t overpower the hops. Lingering, sticky hop taste. More like a subdued IPA than a pale ale.

On tap at the brewpub. Pours golden orange with white head. Aroma is hoppy with citrus and caramel malt. Flavor packs a good hop punch with citrus, caramel malt and some pine. Packs a pretty good hop punch for a pale ale. Would have loved to try it fresh. I am going to miss Matt.

Tapped during the Farewell Matt/ Welcome Bryan party at the brewpub. A farewell version of the Ameripale? Don’t know and didn’t ask. Matt had too many hands to shake. Poured to pint a hazy, golden/amber, with a white, foamy head that left some nice, patchy lacing on the glass. Strong pine notes dominated the aroma, with citrus taking the secondary position. These carried over into the flavor in the same order, along with smooth malt and a favorable and lasting hop bitterness. I agree that this brew is one step off the APA fence into IPA land.

Attractive hazed golden straw pour with substantial and lingering frothy white head. The aroma is a welcoming potency of PNW hop scents ie.; pine and grapefruit and pineapple...very appetizing. First impression is a creamy slurp of sweet caramel malt, bread dough, and biscuity...with an immediate follow-up of tangerine, grapefruit and pine resins in generous proportions and lingering long on the palate. How is this not an IPA, I wonder? But there is SOME restraining hand on the hop scoop, I guess, and the balancing act between sweet and bitter is really pretty tightly performed. Very refreshing brew here with virtually no faults that my half-century-plus-old palate could pretend to detect. And so, I guess, we finally actually bid our favorite brewer a heartfelt farewell, with sincere wishes for success where ever he goes and with whatever beers he chooses to brew. "I’ll see you on the Left Coast, Mr. Van WICK" (Good God, I thought he’d never leave!)