Free State Emancipation Pale Ale

Draft at the brewery. Aroma of citric hop and toasty malt, some light orange, pineapple and caramel. Medium brownish-amber color, head is lasting and fine with some decent lacing. Flavor is pretty well dominated by the hops, plenty of bitterness throughout along with citrus, pine and some floral touches, the malts coming in fairly late with some sugary sweetness and toasted caramel. Smooth and oily on the palate, body is medium. A darker, hoppier Pale Ale.

Growler shared by theisti. Pours a reddish bronze with a thin, creamy, beige head. The nose is a nice, round, bready malt, doughy yeast and a nice hoppy note of wet pine needles on a forest floor. Medium-bodied and creamy-slick with a moderately bitter and dry/flinty finish. Round, biscuity malt with earthy and piny hops in support; a dry and moderately bitter finish. This is one of, if not "the", best session beer that I’ve had from Free State. Thanks for cracking this one, Tim. :)

Growler shared by / with Gregis. Pour is brown copper, slight haze with a nicely formed one inch off white. Nice settling. Pretty lacing. Aroma of English grainy hops and some grassy maltiness. Taste is grainy cereal biscuit maltiness, English hops, piney hops, and mineral earthiness. The finish is dry with a nice brace of bitterness. There is also a bright element to this that doesn’t quite work, detracting from the taste a bit. Palate is medium, mouth coating, dry at the same time. Overall, a really nice session beer, perhaps drifting more towards an EPA, but I like that. This should be a regular lineup beer.

Tap @ FS, pours a brownish amber with a nice foamy tan head, great lacing. Hoppy aroma of pine/resin, and mild citrus. Flavor is a good hops bite with a touch of spiciness that lingers. Another solid, drinkable and interesting APA from FS...

On tap at the brewpub. Dark amber, boardering on red or even brown. Served with no head. Very pleasing hop aroma. Grapefruit and pine trees. A touch of a sweetish aroma. Loads of citrus hop flavor with a strong bitter finish, and very easy on the palate. I heard it is even better cask conditioned.

On tap: I liked this one. HAd a nice light amber color. Not much head by the time it reached the table, so can’t really comment about it. Also not really much lacing/carbination happening. Had a nice malty scent. And the flavor was suprisingly hoppy (not a lot, just none in aroma) and malts ... well balanced.

Ha ha, I finally beat Indra to a Free State Beer! Had several at the KC Bier Meisters Homebrew competition, Steve Brandt brough t out this and the Uptown Brown. It was pretty dark for a pale ale, browninsh orange with a good sized white head. The aroma is floral hops and some mild maltiness. The flavor is nicely balanced, but with a strong hops flavor. The hops are floral and spicy. Real nice mouthfeel. The aroma is unusual for a Free State beer because they tend to be more subdued. I really enjoyed this and I am going to drink several more tonight.