Marin Mt. Tam Pale Ale

Brewed by Marin Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Larkspur, California USA

Decent beer but lacking in originality. Solid, crisp, refreshing, drinkable. Golden in color, citrus hop taste. Thinner, not too much maltiness going on.

Convincing citrus aroma. This is going to be good. Medium dark amber color with a white head that leaves big bubbles in the middle and laces lightly on the fringes. Super citrus start, but there is a strong malt accompaniment. For some reason burnt rubber comes to mind. That doesn’t seem to be a bad thing here, it just comes to mind. The bitter is fantastic, and it seems to finally hide the malt. The finish leaves grapefruit around the back edges of the tongue. Rather full bodied, reasonably carbonated. Fairly long grapefruity finish.

Sampled March 2007
Pours with a brilliantly clear, copper color and is topped by a frothy, initially three-finger thick, nicely tan colored head. The head creates a rocky surface as it slowly subsides, all the while leaving a nice lacing pattern on the sides of the glass. The aroma is nicely hop focused with notes of spicy herbs, and a full, rich grapefruit citrus character. The citrus is the single most noticeable aspect of the aroma, with maybe just a hint of malt character coming through as well. Hop fruit aromatics of apricot, peaches and some sort of sweet tropical fruit are also noticeable in the nose.

A sharp, spicy taste of hops greets my tongue as I first take a sip. Immediately though the citrus character becomes the dominant note; it leans towards sweet citrus fruit like oranges, tangelos, grapefruit and even some smooth tropical fruit notes. The carbonation is fairly low, which makes this very smooth to drink; almost creamy in texture. Caramelized malt notes, a touch of brown sugar, and some light toasted grain character play a supporting role for the dominant hop character. A nice bitterness is here as well, though it is not overly powering; it plays as a nice juxtaposition to the softer, more approachable fruity hop character.

This is just a nice easy drinking Pale Ale, I could easily drink a couple pints of this brew. It is so well balanced to be quaffed pint by pint. Perhaps I could wish for a bit more chewy malt body here, but that would keep it from being so drinkable. I am a sucker for the fruity, smooth hop varieties right now (in this case Amarillo) so this Pale Ale is right up my alley.

personally, I prefer bigger DIPA’s over pale ales. after having the damn good Marin IPA, I gave this one a try. Nice golden translucent color with great lacing and pillowy white head. notes of orange and some lemon from what I remember. Subtle hoppy finish thats pretty well balanced. not bad.

(Bottle 65 cl) Slightly hazy amber golden with a creamy, off-white head leaving some lacework. Weak aroma of citrus. Medium-bodied, lightly sweet malt and lovely fruity notes of peaches and a whiff of citrus. The finish is dry with a subdued bitterness. A straight APA without any fuss. 280307

22 oz bottle. Poured a clear orange color. head was white with decent retention and lacing. Aroma is a nice mixture of malty caramel, grapefruity hops, and a touch of vanilla. The flavor is dominated by malty caramel, but the hops still assert themselves and are nicely balanced with the malt. Very good pale.

MMMM another good Marin brewing company beer. I am really falling for this brewery. Pours with a thick white head that lasts forever. Has a cloudy brown hue. Mouthfeel is super smooth and flavor is full of hoppy goodness and strong malts with little to no bitterness.

No THIS is what a pale ale should be. I am still not sure it is a pale ale since it is so hoppy and more orange-golden in color than I’d expect. The NW hops (Cascade, Columbus, Amarillo) are perfectly balanced in this very easy drinking Amercan ale. Great! Great! Great!