Kenai River Arctic XPA

Brewed by Kenai River Brewing Co.
Style: American Pale Ale
Soldotna, Alaska USA

On tap. Clear gold/orange with a very small white head. Aroma is grapefruit along with other citrus fruits and wheat. Flavor is bitter with a sweet malt base. Medium to light body with active carbonation and a long bitter finish. The grapefruit really stands out in this one, in the aroma and taste. Pretty good.

Draft@ Humpy’s. Clear light amber with a tight white head. Mild to medium strong aroma of pale cracker malt with a whiff of floral hop. Medium body. Nice flavors of lightly sweet bready malt with a hint of honey. Drys out a bit in the finish with grainy pale malt grist. A pretty tasty Pale Ale here.

Tap. A tad darker than the typical pale ale and standard aroma. Very nice up front floral flavor but trailed off to a very harsh, acidic bite; kind of ruined it for me.

Sampled at the ’08 GABBF. Golden beer with a thin off white head. Nice floral hoppy nose with some underlying graininess. Fruity pale ale with an almost berry flavor. Caramel, orange rind, wet grains and a bitter finish that ends with orange pith. Would go great with a hearty sandwich.

Draft pint at Humpy’s. Bright bronze with just a little top. Bit of a soapy aroma, but not in an off-putting way, as weird as that sounds. The flavor is quite puckery but for whatever reason I still get an impression of dish soap, like a citrusy hand soap or something. Despite my strange description, this is good stuff. (#3297, 1/19/2008)

20-Jan-08 (Draft: Humpy’s Alehouse in Anchorage, AK) As I had hoped when I saw the beer on Humpy’s terrific beer menu, Arctic XPA is a very hops-centric beer. The beer offers a nice blend of pale, mildly sweet malts and citrusy hops, but my focus is drawn toward the hops. Orange citrus and tea notes offer medium bitterness at first, but grapefruit rind, pine and sharper bitterness emerge in the finish, and continue to build in subsequent sips. In the nose, citrusy hops meld nicely with a light, mildly grainy malt aroma, and is slightly sweet-smelling. Light-medium in body, clean and crisp like this style should be, with soft and smooth carbonation and a crisp finish for excellent drinkability. Dark-golden in color with moderate haze in the glass, capped by a half-inch of creamy off-white head that slowly settles to a ring. However, a dense curtain of lace remains on the top inch of the glass. A superbly crafted and enjoyable pale ale.