San Marcos Premium Golden Ale

Brewed by San Marcos Brewery & Grill
Style: Golden Ale/Blond Ale
San Marcos, California USA

Tasted at San Marcos. Clear golden yellow. Malty and yeasty aroma. Bready taste with a clean finish.

Tap at San Marcos Brewing
Pale gold color, light head. Nose of faint malt and hops. The flavor is nicely floral, plenty of bitter hops and a clean finish. An all around solid golden ale where these usually are the my least favorite in a sampler.

Pours to a clean looking golden body with a thin white head. The flavor has lots of corn adjuncts, bitter grassy hops linger in the background. The aroma is very light. Sweet corn and corn flakes. The palate is syrupy and medium-light bodied.

Draft at brewpub, Dec 05. Pale gold and clear pour. Light malt and earthy hop aroma. Light malt flavors, and some metallic earthy noble hop notes. Light veggie notes to me.

@ SM Brewpub: Clear gold with a thin white head. Aroma of butterscotch and earthy hops. Sweet malt of toffee and a little toasty. Light to medium body.

(22-ounce bottle, purchased at the brewery) Wow, after reading my notes for their California Pale Ale, I thought I was drinking the same beer, and perhaps this was a mislabeled bottle; However, this beer is a pale golden color and slightly hazy whereas my notes indicate the CPA was amber in color; But everything else about that beer is similar for this offering; Bready, toasty, earthy aromas lead into the beer nicely, for the flavors are the same; Very bready and toasty, mildly bitter, slightly sour; The sourness is apparently much less of an issue than in the CPA because I'm actually enjoying this bready, toasty flavors of this beer quite a bit; Much more malty and flavorful than the color predicts; Medium bodied, dry, clean and refreshing on the palate; The smallish off-white head was extremely short lived, quickly fading to a small ring, but there was some modest lacing on the glass to save the appearance from an embarrassing mark of 2; This really is a pretty good brew, and something I'd buy again next time I'm up at the San Marcos Brewery; Good "bonus" beer for trades too; Winner of my 9-beer golden/blonde ale tasting, knocking off Rogue, and blowing away the rest

This ale pours with a pale golden body topped by a medium thick head with a good amount of lacing. The aroma is sweet and malty with a slight grassy hoppiness and some bready notes. The flavor is slightly sweet and malty to start and becomes hoppy and grassy with rye bread notes. Light bodied, tingly from the carbonation and dry.