Saint Archer Brewing Company - Pale Ale

I'm baaaaack!!

What's up everyone?! It's Thursday. The week is FINALLY almost over and I'm ready to drink a new beer. Tonight, I'm drinking a beer from a very new brewery from San Diego, California (I know, another new brewery?!). This is from Saint Archer and it's their Pale Ale which is an american style Pale Ale brewed with Cascade, Chinook, and Simcoe hops. In other words? Another hoppy Pale Ale!

So let's get this poured cause I'm ready to drink something new!

Pale Ale pours out a very clear yellow maybe with some slight golden hues on the side of the glass and near the bottom. There was about a 2 finger rocky white head that didn't stick around for very long and really didn't leave behind any lacing. There's a bit of carbonation coming up from the bottom of the glass. It's a fairly typical looking Pale, almost reminds me more of a pilsner just by looking at it. Let's get the nose.

First thing I'm getting is some fresh orange juice, maybe some grapefruit citrus. It's not as strong as an IPA of course, but with this hop variety it's not a surprise. This is brewed with some Crystal and Munich malts which I'm definitely picking up behind that initial blast of fresh citrus. There's a bit of a bready character here, maybe even crackerish. There's a slight bit of bitterness here as well. It smells like a slightly hoppy pilsner. Nothing crazy going on with the nose. Let's see how the Pale Ale tastes.

I'm initially hit with a hop bitterness. It's very crisp. There's a bit of a honey character in the middle of the mouth. It's more sweet like honey as opposed to sticky like the actual feel of honey. It's not overpowering. Sides of the palate there is a bit of that citrus coming through. Again though, it's not very strong. The finish is pretty dry with some of that cracker character. There's also a bit more of that honey and citrus to round everything out.

So overall, this is OK at best. It's nothing mind blowing. It's not a bad beer. On a hot day this would be pretty refreshing. At 5.2% abv this is pretty sessionable. I don't see why someone couldn't have a couple of these and be more than alright. I'd have to say this is just an average beer at best. Nothing in this beer shines over anything else. It's fairly balanced but maybe to a fault. I'd have liked a little more of that sweetness or even a little more of that citrus to shine. I was left wanting more.

Rating: C