Widmer Brothers Drifter Pale Ale

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

Cask (gravity) @ GBBF 09, Great British Beer Festival, Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London, England.
Clear medium amber color with a small, fizzy, virtually none lacing, fully diminishing, white to off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, caramel, moderate to heavy hoppy, grapefruit, orange. Flavor is moderate sweet and moderate to light heavy bitter with a average duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is flat. [20090804]

A sweet malty aroma. An amber color with faint white head. A light body with faint maltiness and mild hop.

Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a bright orange-amber color with a meidum sized orange-tan head. The aroma was strong floral, grapefruit and pine. The flavor was bitter, tart and fruity with notes of grapefruit, pineapple and lemon and an undertone of light sour nutty malths. The finish was long, dry, bitter and hoppy. Medium body. Good.

12-oz bottle. Clear amber color. Light airy head. Marked citrus aroma with some floral notes. Light body. Medium sweetness up front. Some tanic notes. A dry slightly astringent finish. Interesting. Needs a food pairing to complement the finish.

On tap at Red Door in Watertown, CT. Moderate citrus aroma. Clear orange color with a small white head. Strong citrus taste but not that bitter. Palate is light in the end.

Bottle: Poured a light golden color ale with a small foamy head with good retention and not much lacing. Aroma of light citrus hops with nice mango ester. Taste is a nice mix between some citrusy hops with nice mango notes and a light caramel backbone. Body is about average with good carbonation. Very well done with nice mango ester and well balanced sweetness.

Poured orange amber, thin, grainy, artificial peach, little sweet orange, slight hop.

12 oz. bottle from local corner store. Nice dark brown color. Translucent, with a slight head that fades away quickly. Surprised at the look considering we’re talking about Widmer. Fairly nice balance between the sweet malts and the fairly pungent hop aroma. I am surprised at the aroma as well i.e. very pungent. The malts seem to be taking over the aroma as the beer warms. Bah...flavor is rather weak. Nothing to speak of in terms of hops that are jumping out at me. Fairly muted hop flavor. The sweet malts are there. There is a touch of tea flavor. The beer is pretty smooth. Overall, everything is decent, but the flavor. If they just kicked up the hops in the flavor a bit I would be happy with this one.