Lukaya Beer Two Tail Pale Ale

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

Pours clear amber with off white head. Light grassy hop aroma. Flavors of pine and citrus hops with slight malt sweetness. Medium body with average carbonation. An average APA.

OK, yet another beer I bought simply because it is brewed in FL in order to ‘tick’ another FL brewed rating. Sad but true. Pours clear copper with off white head. The aroma is malty sweet and mixed with crystal like malts and mild hop notes of citrus, pine and a touch of floral. I also get what seems to be a faint off note of stale malts. The taste has a nice up front hop bitterness of pine, citrus and mild floral. By midway I get a mild pulse of malt sweetness and slight caramelization.

Thanks to Ian for this local hook up. Cloudy amber pour with a thick white head. Thick malty aroma with a grassy bitterness. Dry grassy bitter taste with hints of malt. Solid hot weather pale.

Pours a clear gold orange, with a small white head. Smells of some musty hops, light malt presence, and some cereal grain. Simple smelling. The flavor had a crisp little subtle hop presence to it. A little more hoppy than I thought it would be which was a pleasant surprise. Very drinkable and crisp. Nothing complex or interesting about it, but certainly drinkable for a small session. Decent.

Bottle from Ibrew2or3....Thanks Dave. Plain and simple, a typical american pale ale. Nothing special. Average all around. Cool dogs on the cover of the bottle, kind of remind me of my dogs!

Bottle courtesy of Tony at Oldsmar Tap House. Pours a slightly hazy amber color with a thin white head. Aroma is citrusy with primarily notes of lemon, but there is a barnyard-like wet dog aroma as well. Some hoppy bitterness as well. Flavor is much better than the nose on this one with notes of grain, malts, citrus and hops. Light body with a slightly bitter finish.

Bottle.Pours a slightly hazy copper with a small white head that leaves some lacing. Very light aroma of floraland citrus hops with grainy malts. Taste is the same as aroma. Medium thin mouthfeel with a mild to moderate amount of bitterness. Decent.

I am amazed at how wide-spread and accepted the craft beer scene in America has become. From what I saw in Oregon 10 years ago, to the very fact that I am sitting here in my living room drinking Two Tail, a locally brewed Vero Beach craft beer is simply amazing. The original recipe was crafted by the son, Eric, of the Hmielewski family of Vero Beach. To make a short story even shorter, I went to school with one Nicki Hmielewski from Kindergarten thru 12th grade at St. Edwards. Yup, same family. It really is a small world after all.
To the best of my knowledge, it is currently only available in 6 packs of 12 oz bottles. Technically brewed by the Florida Brewing Company in Melbourne, the original recipe is Eric Hmielewski’s which makes it, to the best of my knowledge, Vero Beach’s first local craft beer. Apparently Waldos has a Waldo’s lager on draft, but they’re a restaurant and not an individual so it doesn’t count, imo.
Pours thick with a small head and hops wafting up to my nose. A nice deep amber orange in color, it just looks hoppy n oily. In the nose I can definitely smell the hop oils and a bit of lemon rind. I also get a hint of nuts in the background. A nice medium body for a pale ale, I can definitely taste and feel the hop presence. Two Tail glides down my throat, coating my mouth with hop oils while lemon bitters tickle the sides of my tongue. While the hops tease my tongue, nutty and lightly sweet malts balance out the palate and overall mouth feel. As Two Tail warms, even more malt nut and caramel and creaminess makes itself evident. The hop oils become more of a lemon zing that comes up after the malts to get me right on the tongue. Overall, more body and hops then most pale ales, but I still wouldn’t classify Two Tail as an IPA. If you are a fan of either beer style, give Two Tail Pale Ale from Lukaya Beers a try.