St. George Golden Ale

Brewed by St. George Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Hampton, Virginia USA

Pours gold with a decent-sized head--looks tasty. Good grassy and citrusy hop aroma. The taste is somewhat of a disappointment. The hop flavor is dominant, but in turn is dominated by a strange peppery taste that I found unpleasant. The aftertaste left my mouth begging for another beer--just not another St. George’s Golden Ale. Still, I’d try it out; I could see other people liking it more than I did.

Bottle from The Beer God: Pours a clean deep golden hue with a nice large fluffy head and very good lacing. The aroma has notes of grassy and floral hops, bready malts, and a light touch of dusty esters. The taste starts with a surprising amount of citrus (grapefruit mostly) and tradional bitters. Notes of light allspice and pepper punch up the finish. An undertone of malt base is supporting but kept well in the background except for the aftertaste, which is bready and chalky, some lingering metallic bitterness as well. This lively beer is refreshing, but as an APA it is about average and that isn’t so bad.

Nice color deep golden to amber, pleasant floral nose, fine hop / malt balance. Very fresh and with a nice crisp mouthfeel! A fine session beer from a very underrated Virginia brewery!

More amber than golden I’d say. Curiously, I found this more hoppy than the same brewery’s IPA, but there’s also more malt body. Nothing really leaps out at you, but it’s a pleasant, fresh and crisp, refreshing tipple. Went down nicely with lunch, on a lovely sunny autumn day, looking out over the river at the Yorktown Pub, Virginia.

Copper color with a thick head. Nice citrus flavor with a hop tone to it. Very drinkable beer with a strong hop finish. Not a bad beer.

Clear copper color with a tiny white head. Hoppy grapefruit aroma followed by more zippy citrus and honey flavors. Very bitter finish with a strange chalky aftertaste.

Pours a nice clear copper with a white head. Sweet malt and light floral qualities in the nose. Toasty malts, caramel, toffee, citrus and honey make up the taste. Medium light hops on the back end. Pleasantly sweet and robust/full bodied. Very full, round and creamy on the palate. Good stuff.

(12 oz bottle, obtained in trade with jasonp, thanks Jason!) I was originally saving this for a golden/blond ale tasting session, but I’m glad I threw this in with an APA session because this is way darker and more flavorful than American golden/blond ales. Don’t be fooled by the name. It’s hard to describe this beer, and I don’t think it falls neatly into any specific category. The unusual nose is difficult to describe fully, but it’s malty, a bit sweet and toasty, very earthy, kind of (brown) mushroomy. It smells alcoholic, but I know it isn’t. Bold flavor is quite malty, mildly sweet, and again, there’s that hard-to-describe earthiness. Bitter hops is kept to a minimum, staying far in the background. Medium bodied. The hops is most evident in the palate, keeping it somewhat crisp in the finish. Dark golden, light amber color, with fine particles suspended in the beer. Off-white head gradually fades to a sheen. Hardly any lacing. Very interesting beer, and definitely worth trying.