Widmer Brothers Drifter Pale Ale

Brewed by Widmer Brothers Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Portland, Oregon USA

Wonderful citrusy aroma with mild earthyness and a hint of evergreen. Believe it’s Chinook hops. Beautiful bier, decent lacing. Nice smooth flavor, smooth bittering, odd malt character I can’t quite put my finger on, it’s fairly vienna/munich esq. Nice hop flavors, mild sugar residuals. Thin palate, but drinkable. Overall a pretty darn good bier. Very drinkable and different enough to be slightly memorable and odd.

Pours dark amber with white head that doesn’t last long. Nose has a nice citrusy element, particularly grapefruit, and some candied aromas. Palate is on the dry, hoppy side with a small backbone of malt to balance out. Not a bad offering from one of the BMC affiliates.

Copper color, white head that thins quickly. Very fruity and interesting nose...grapefruit, pears, and tropical fruit. Reminscent of a can of fruit cocktail! Really thin in the mouth. Citrus hops and malt but it tastes as it was watered down. Taste would have been enhanced with a little more body.

So they claim it has a "unique citrus character" no crap, I am certain I’ve never had anything like this before. This pours an unassuming pale golden color with a small but fluffy head. There is quite a bit of hops in the aroma with a nice little sweet maltiness to compliment. But the flavor of this thing is just weird, it’s a good weird but you could tell me that this is a fruit ale and I would believe you, initially the flavor is loaded with pineapple then has the single most distinctive grapefruit quality I have ever tasted in a beer. The maltiness lends sweetness that just sort of makes the whole thing remind me of fruit juice. The fruitiness is just over the top here, I think that this would be an excellent transition beer into hoppier styles.

Bottle. Poured a warm amber with an iinitial twirl of air. This has a gigantic citrus aroma and drinks like some kind of citric juice. Interesting interpretation.(#3546, 5/20/2009)

Not a bad APA. Pours a light amber/yellow with medium white head. Smells of grapefruit and mild hops. Flavors are similar to aroma. Easy to drink and very sessionable.

Tap at OTH. Pours copper, beige head. Aroma of caramel, hops, with over notes of malts. Taste, hoppy with light spicy notes, some malts and sweet caramel. Not overly hoppy, fiish smooth, light fruit bitterness.

Poured a copper/brown color with a small white head, decent lacing and a medium amount of carbonation. Aroma has lots of grapefruit, and floral notes to it. The taste is very floral, slightly bitter, and a small amount of malt to balance things out. Really good for a Pale ale, not very bitter, just about right. Very well done.