Sly Fox Boadicea Pale Ale

Brewed by Sly Fox Brewhouse
Style: English Pale Ale
Royersford and Phoenixville, Pennsylvania USA

Tap at Ginger Man. Amber beer with a thin white head. Aroma is lightly malty and a little bit sweet. A bit of toast and a light honeyed sweetness. There really isn’t much to this beer. A lightly earthy hoppiness initially that become slightly herbal/floral as the beer begins to warm up a bit. There’s not a whole lot to this one.

Draft at Gman. Aroma is strangely sweet, honey not much else. Flavor is orange hoppy with a kinda minty thing going on, dirty hops. Malts make for a dry finish. As interesting of one of the IPA Project beers that I’ve had.

Not one of the better offerings in Sly Fox’s IPA Project. But I guess for this year, there’s only one way to go: up. This pale ale is a bit disappointing. It kind of lacked the big hop character, but did include a nice malty and balanced backbone. This pale ale poured an amber color with a decent off-white head. There wasn’t much lacing around the glass, though. The nose contained notes of caramel, pine, toffee and oranges. The flavors were well balanced, but lacked a really strong hoppy character. There were huge notes of fruit in the body of this pale ale, especially orange and grapefruit. The finish was nicely hopped and dry. I think I read somewhere that this hop was a bit of an experiment for their Project. I think the experiment fell a little short. Although I think this hop could play nicely into the year-end Odyssey offering. I don’t think it stands all that well on its own, or at least as the main player.

Poured a dark golden color with a small, off white head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of toffee malts, toast, almonds, citrus, light pine, and a bit of floral hops. Taste of caramel malts, citrus fruits, orange peel, nuts, light spices, pine, and faint grapefruit. I wish Royersford would get a handpump, I would like to try this, and any subsequent Pale Ale series beers through that...

Tap at Rford. Pours a translucent golden amber with a medium creamy off white head with large bubbles that left lacing. Aroma was light, some citrus notes, orange, toffee, nuts and caramel. Flavor of toasted malt, caramel, floral, nuts, light citrus and moderate bitterness.

Hand Pump at Phoenixville BrewPub: Aroma of pale malts, fruit, light berries, hops, and light caramel. Poured amber/orange in color with a big, rocky, creamy, off-white head that lasted throughout. Cloudy. Many large particles throughout. Flavor is lightly sweet and lightly bitter. Tastes of nuts, caramel, hops, grass, vegetables, herbs, and wheat. Very earthy flavor. Medium body. Sticky texture. Soft (hand pump) carbonation. Lightly sweet, malty, herbal-hop finish. Very much like an ESB.