Thomas Hooker American Pale Ale

Bottle. Pours a lightly foggy, dusky orange-amber hue with a small head of bubbly, ivory colored froth. Minimal, wet spotting marks the glass. The aroma is sweet and biscuit driven, with notes of toasted toffee and caramel. Hints of orange marmalade and peppery flowers lend fruity and hoppy contrasts. The flavor is again mostly sweet, with sugary biscuit and caramel malts outweighing the mild floral-citrus hop bitterness. Medium bodied until the mid-point, the palate seems to drop off into a weak, sugar water abyss on the back end. Eh, not a very good brew. Totally forgettable.

12 oz at lithy’s March tasting. Clear, orange-amber with a nice lasting ring of foam. Nose of toasted bread and spiced caramel. Flavor is toasted nut, caramel and light resin. Smooth medium body finishes crisp. Nice session APA.

12oz bottle from Whole Foods (Tampa, FL). Pours a dark amber color with orange highlights and thin white head. Aroma is sweet and malty with notes of caramel, honey, light floral esters, light floral hops, some faint light spice. Flavor is sweet and malty with notes of caramel, honey, some light floral hops with a slight bitterness toward finish. Generally light to medium body with a malty and slightly bitter finish.

It pours up pure copper with than head. The aroma seems a bit aged and muted with rounded off notes of pine to go along with modest malts and crystal malt sweetness. I also get a faint hint of deep dark fruity esters that seems to compliment the experience. The taste seems like it has some age one it. I get tasty yet aged malty sweetness moving toward a grapefruit acidity tingle with carbonation and blunted pine hop bitterness. Maybe it does have some age but I still find it enjoyable.

Draft at thte local. Body is medium minus and mostly malts, a bit muddled but drinkable. Some but not many malts in the finish. This pint does not stand out in a crowd.

Dark amber pour with an off white head. Malty aroma with some bread Slightly sweet malting up front, somewhat watery. Some hops into the finish... not much, but enough to make it a nice bitter finish, slightly sour, but not unpleasant. Wholly average, which still means it’s good.

A darker shade of pale with a medium size, off white head and nice lacing. Muted aroma of spicy hops and soft fruit. Grainy, rye-like malts plus sweetness from the caramel malts nicely balance the resinous hop profile. Medium bodied, decently carbonated mouthfeel with a lingering finish.

Golden/orange pour with creamy white head and lace. Nice piney hop aroma dominates. Very malty with medium hops flavor. Just a tad thin and foamy but a very nice drinker none the less.