Manzanita Brewing Co. - Pale Ale

How's it going everybody? I'm back drinking another new beer and after this incredibly shitty week of work, it's much needed and frankly, much deserved. So tonight I'm drinking a beer from a fairly local brewery (Santee, CA). I'm drinking Pale Ale from Manzanita Brewing Co.

This Pale Ale is 6.3% Abv. A little bit higher than your typical Pale Ale and not really something that screams session beer. Don't get me wrong, not all Pale Ales have to be session beers, but let's be honest, they tend to be fairly sessionable.

So enough bullshit. Let's get this poured and see how Manzanita's Pale Ale stands up to some of the other Pales we've had.

First thing I notice is this isn't entirely filtered. There's a little bit of sediment floating around but it more or less just causes a slight haze to the beer. There's a finger and a half of a fairly standard foamy white head with a lot of tight white bubbles. The beer itself pours out golden yellow with a slight hue of copper around the bottom and sides of the glass when held up to a light source. The carbonation is fairly decent, nothing too crazy, but there's some carbonation coming up to the sides of the glass. Looks like a pretty typical Pale Ale. Let's see how it smells. 

Immediately get some citrus sweetness. Tangerine, Orange, slight bit of grapefruit. Smells like a weaker IPA. There's some sugary sweetness. Maybe even a slight hint of peach nectar. That's followed by a nice subtle hop bitterness. There's some nice grassy character coming through, maybe a fresh cut grass. Sort of wet grass. This is a really clean smelling beer. Crisp, fresh, with a nice citrus and hop bite. It honestly smells a lot like an IPA. Finally, let's get some drinking done. 

There's a nice hop bitterness right away. It really hits the front of the palate and proceeds to lead the way through the back of the palate. Middle of the mouth there's some sweetness, a little bit of grapefruit, grapefruit zest. There's quite a bit of bitterness after this sweet grapefruit. Almost like a grapefruit pith. Sides of the mouth there's some of the tangerine I picked up on the nose along with some of that peach and maybe even some of that grassy character. The Pale Ale finishes pretty dry. The one thing I notice more than anything is how much earthy bitterness there is. Definitely reminds me more of a single IPA more so than a pale ale.

So overall, this is actually pretty decent. I wasn't expecting a lot but this is a pleasant surprise. Very affordable at about $5.00 for a bomber. Really drinks more like an IPA than a Pale Ale like I figured it would. If you can get it I'd say check it out. Decent enough to pick up on a whim. 

Rating: B