Hurricane Reef Pale Ale

Brewed by Florida Beer Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Melbourne, Florida USA

Thanks to illinismitty for sharing this bottle with us at the Tennessee Spring(ish) Tasting! Poured orange in color with a white head. Fruit aroma with orange standing out but a slight caramel background. The flavor found the opposite with caramel and a light citrus. Medium body and slightly sweet throughout.

Tasted at the Tennessee Spring(ish) Tasting held in Knoxville, TN on 3/10/2007. Bottle shared by illinismitty. Thank you Sean for finding this retired beer in Florida and sharing it with us... Hurricane Reef Pale Ale pours a golden orange color and is pretty clear with a few small chucks of hardened yeast cake floating in it. The aroma is malty and sweet. There is a light caramel maltiness in the flavor and there is a mild hop bitterness. The palate is light and watery. Good, but not great. Maybe this beer is a little past its prime? Sean was kind enough to send an extra bottle home with me, so I will revisit this one again soon...

Rating: 7 3 7 2 14 = 3.3.
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10/22/2008: Hurricane Reef Pale Ale pours a dirty dark gold color with a small, off-white head. The aroma has a hint of toffee malt with a large side of metallic quality. The hops have degraded but the residual aged citrus is still good by me, but there is some oxidation setting in now. There is a decent level of large carbonation bubbles. The flavor is somewhat soapy and dry with a little butterscotch setting in now. There really isn’t any hop flavor or bitterness left at this point. This beer has a medium-light body and is an average palate. In its day this was probably a pretty decent Pale Ale and moderately+ drinkable.

12 fl. oz. bottle from illinismitty shared with Brad (alexsdad06) at the weekly Party Source gathering. Thanks again Sean! Rating: 7 3 6 3 12 = 3.1.

Bottle at the Knoxville Spring(ish) tasting. Aroma is biscuit, fruit, and some grassy hops. The flavor is grassy with some sticky stale hops, and sticks around for quite some time after. Quaffable, but not something I would ever ask for.

Sampled at the Knoxville tasting courtesy of Sean, thanks. Pours a light yellow color with a little bit of a white head on it. Smell is fruity and slightly hoppy. Taste has a mild hop flavor and some sweet fruity flavors. Maybe a little bit past its prime, but it was drinkable none the less.

Cloudy pale orange, no head. some citrusy notes, some, I don’t know, Saltine crackers? Crisp and dry, with an understated hop flavor. Probably a decent hot weather session brew.

I picked up a six of this at the Naples FL Publix. Pours copper amber with a dissapating white head. Medium light mouthfeel. Aroma grains, fruity hops, caramel malt. Initial british esque flavor of toffee that transitions to a fruity and mildly sweet middle. Mild bitter finish with some butterscotch, perhaps some very faint diacetyl????? British malt base with american hops session pale. My guess is that this is not very fresh, as the C hops are rather subdued. Better than I expected. Too bad its retired. Florida needs more beer on the retail shelves.

Nice pour with fast falling head and light golden color. Aroma of cascade hops are not overpowering and there is less of the green grassy aroma than I usually get with an American Pale Ale. Initial sip is bitter but not overly so, nice balance. Taste is light and nicely balanced. Not your typical hop-monster, and a welcome change.

Pours a deep copper color with almost no head (could be my outdated sample). Great mouthfeel - appropriately thick. A nice malt background gives way to subtle hop explosion. It’s not an overpoweringly hoppy beer but quite balanced. Aftertaste has lingering cascade flavor. It’s good - and probably delicous off tap.