HopTown Golden Ale

Formerly brewed at HopTown Brewing Company
Style: Golden Ale/Blond Ale
Pleasanton, California USA

Pours golden slightly cloudy with lively carbonation, big white head-lasting. Aroma is citrus sweet with some off flavors that smell like vinegar. Flavor is much the same as the aroma- citrus, malt, and vinegar. Luckily the offlavors don’t trespass too far on to the palate. They are certainly there but not overwhelming. Detracts from the beer. Medium body, clean finish. Could use some more bitterness. I’d pass on this one.

(22 oz bottle: $2.99 at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, CA) A rather explosive pop when I removed the cap warned me about possible overcarbonation. So the extremely slow and careful pour yielded only two inches of foamy, off-white head. Otherwise, a normal pour would have entirely filled the glass with foam. This is a pretty flavorful golden ale, not one of those bland goldens I’ve been stuck rating lately. It’s fairly yeasty and quite hoppy for the style, with a mild maltiness, a light sweetness, and some orange citrus. The moderately bitter, floral, lightly grapefruit hoppiness somewhat overshadows the malt right from the start, but especially in the dry, bitter, long-lasting finish. Hoppy and strongly fruity/citrusy aromas are quite nice. The medium bodied beer has a very overcarbonated mouthfeel, with the first few sips exploding inside the mouth, and subsequent sips being very zesty and lively on the tongue. Light golden color, and fairly hazy, but that doesn’t prevent me from seeing the mass of large, quickly-rising carbonation bubbles racing to the surface. The off-white head maintains half an inch of rocky, bubbly foam, but the head sticks together as one solid structure and there’s only a few small patches of lace at the top of the glass. Overall, this is a decent beer, hoppier than most in the style, but considering my general apathy for the golden ale style, I’m not complaining.

From the pour a whirlwind of dust and tiny pieces of floaters are about in a gold colored beer. Head is thin and fluffy. A citrus nose that mostly smells like orange and also has hops added. A mild and light organic flavor of hops and some grain. A tiny slash of honey as well, making this an average golden/ blonde. Reminds me of a really toned down bock

Pours a hazy gold color, with wonderfully nice white frothy head. Aroma is pine, slight hops, floral. Light but very pleasant, good amount of hops that goldens usually don’t have. Pretty floral, with honey, and orange blossum. A golden that I really enjoy.

no head at all. light wine scent (not very appealling). hunk of food in glass. taste was good when cold, but got worse as the beer got warm.

Bottle. A hazy golden orange color with a frothy white head. Quite a strong grassy hop presence for a "Blond Ale." Juiced up on hops, this is quite an enjoyable beer for the style. Light, smooth and refreshing body and flavor.

The label says golden ale, while in the description it’s a pale ale? Fruity pineapple and grapefruit aroma tells me it could be an IPA. A slight biscuitiness, but very much lacking in body. Fizzy and light in body but the hops certainly make the beer enjoying and refreshing. Nice citric bite in the finish but never really too bitter. Decent afternoon beer.

Gold color, large head. A light golden ale with some hop kick, no maltyness. Full flavor, but way, way to hoppy for a golden ale. Finish is crisp. Aftertaste is very bitter. BEER NOT TO STYLE.