Weekend Brews - Week 51 - Pale O' Mine

Happy Friday! Another Weekend Brews Report here and at week 51, it looks like next Friday will be the official one year anniversary of the Weekend Brews report. Woo hoo!

Tonight I was feeling kinda hoppy and thought I'd celebrate my Irish-American skin tone with some pleasurable pale ales. Huzzah!

First up is a pale ale brewed in Paso Robles, California at the Firestone Walker Brewing Company. This beer is aptly named, the Pale 31 California Pale Ale. Right on dude.

The beer pours into the glass with a light golden color and as the light shines through you can see the clean carbonation racing to the top. The pale ale smells of citrus and pine as this beer is well-hopped with Cascade, Centennial and Chinook. And now we taste ...

Hmmmmm, yes. That is one tasty mofo. Light malt flavor with a perfect amount of bite and bitterness. Well done lads. You can really taste those hops. Fantastic. It's no wonder this beer has won medals everywhere it goes.

You definitely want to get yourself some of this ... and soon!

Overall Score of the Firestone Walker Pale 31 California Pale Ale: 4.5 out 5.0

Beer number two tonight is another California Pale Ale. It's the XP Pale Ale from the Bear Republic Brewing Company in Cloverdale, California.

It's another left coast classic as it's light amber body fills the glass with a head like the center of a Moon Pie. The smell of fresh cut grass and citrus are the key players. A tip of the glass and and down it goes ... ahhhh. An easy-to-drink well-hopped beer is what I'd call it. A good balance of sweet malt and bitter hops, but nothing too abrasive. It's not at the top of my list, but it is a better than average American Pale Ale.
This beer would probably go well with a bowl full of fresh steamed mussels steeped in garlic and oil, served with some warm, crusty French bread, on an outside deck overlooking the Bay. Yeahhhh I'd be into that.

I enjoyed the XP. I think it's worth a try.

Slainte!

Overall Score of the Bear Republic XP Pale Ale: 3.5 out 5.0

P.S. Sorry about the crappy photos. The camera is out on another mission tonight.