Mammoth Paranoid Pale Ale

Brewed by Mammoth Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Mammoth Lakes, California USA

I had this beer on tap at the base of the mountain at Little Eagle Lodge. It was perfect after a day on the slopes. This beer poured a golden brown color w/ orange highlights; very slight head and medium lasting lacing. The aroma was big w/ citrus, pine and a hemp note. The flavor was citrusy w/ oranges and grapefruits, pine and a good hemp note. The mouthfeel was light and carbonated. I really liked this beer.

Very clear amber with a fleeting head. Nice piney hop, grassy aromas. Smooth medium body. Good floral and pine hop flavors on a lightly sweet pale malt base. Another classic 80’s micro from these guys.

Bottle as Paranoid Pale Ale. So much hop it suggests cat pee (that’s a good thing). I say citrus/floral (not grapefruit) with some resin/pine. Color is darkish coppery with tiny bubbles. The white head ringed quickly. Medium body with creamy carbonation. Flavor is hop - starting with pine, passing to grapefruit, and back. There is some malt, but balance favors hop! Finishes crisp and dry. Pretty good APA.

Bottle. Citrus floral hop aroma is prominent (and promising). Malt character is bready, sweet but not over done, hop flavors balance well. Mouthfeel is medium, finish is satisfying bitter. A very decent APA, I would certainly have another.

Not much aroma. This is an okay beer. Most of the hops come out in the finish. The flavor seems a little odd at first but overall it’s decent.

Pours with an initially two-finger thick, lightly tanned, cream colored head that sits atop a clear, fully copper colored brew. The aroma is nicely hop focused with a good mix of citrus and herbal / pine notes. Aromatic notes of grapefruit, apricot and pineapple serve as the dominant hop character, but there is a nice layer of sharper pine & menthol like notes. A touch of biscuit like malt notes are just discernible in the finish. This has quite a bit more of a tropical fruit / citrus character than I was expecting; it is quite nice and appetizing.

Only lightly sweet, the hops compete with the malt character and actually are the dominant force here. Quite smooth feeling on the tongue, almost a touch watery feeling despite a certain malt driven heft & viscosity. The flavor is perhaps a bit more sharp than the aroma might suggest as a solid bitterness is noticeable from the first and a definite, crisp, pine flavor and menthol like hop turpene character is noticeable. Still, there is quite a bit of fruit to be found from the hops (in fact it might just edge out the sharper hop notes in terms of flavor dominance); flavors of candied orange peel, peach, sweet tropical fruit and lychee are all quite noticeable. The malt character, all though it may seem an after thought here, plays a nice supporting role. The touch of residual malt sugars perk up the fruity hop notes and in the finish is found a touch of biscuit-like / soda cracker type malt notes that provide some additional dryness to offset the fruit notes.

This is a really nice Pale Ale. I was not expecting much after the Double Nut Brown, but this is quite nice and I would happily quaff more of this.

On Tap: Wiskey Creek, Bishop, CA- Citrus and floral hop nose; farily chewy body and low carbonation, biscuity malt flavor with earthy notes; pretty good pale.

12oz bottle, no date. Clean grapefruit, pine and floral hop nose with some faint caramel malts. Clear orange amber witha small creamy off-white head, fading to a thick ring and thin film before long. Flavor pulls back on the floral hops a bit, and the caramel malts are a little sweeter. Must be just a pretty good amount of aroma hops, because the bitterness in the dry finish is only around a 2-3. Creamy medium body with light carbonation. A solid, easy-drinking APA with no obvious flaws. I only bought a bottle, but could fly through quite a few of these on a lazy day--or night.