Empire State Pale Ale - Empire Brewing Company

chinchill

South Carolina

3.25/5  rDev -14.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

consumed at Empire Brewing

A - clear and golden; white head with good retention

S - citrusy hops with subtle malt; white wine

T - bitter (typical for style) with an undesirable sourness; hoppy; moderately bitter finish.

M - smooth; full for a PA

In sum, a surprising average Pale Ale from a brewery with some other very fine beers.

Serving type: on-tap

11-04-2010 03:07:04 | More by chinchill

jaz58

Ontario (Canada)

4.09/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A decent IPA.

Served in a clear pint glass, the colour was a nice copper orange with a slight haze.

Good head and lace as it was enjoyed.

Good hop nose.

Slight citrus notes yet a brisk bitters finish.

Smooth mouthfeel.

This needs alittle more work to contend with other IPA's.

Serving type: on-tap

03-24-2013 23:03:12 | More by jaz58

JohnQVD

New York

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

03-17-2013 20:06:41 | More by JohnQVD

nyrblue2

New York

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

03-14-2013 17:07:16 | More by nyrblue2

derekdenim

New York

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

02-07-2013 23:57:15 | More by derekdenim

BEERchitect

Kentucky

3.63/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Clean, crisp, and with a touch of caramel sweetness, this pale ale is well balanced and sure to pair well with many entres for the Empire restaurant.

Pouring a medium copper color and with a mild haze, the pale ale's medium carbonation builds a creamy off-white head that caps the beer in persistent fashion while leaving light lace on the glass. A standard but solid pale ale look.

Aromas of caramel and hops combine for a balance of graham crackers, mild spice, light grassy vegital notes, and citrusy grapefruit. With each alternating whiff, it's hard to tell if malt or hops govern the nose.

Flavors pull everso slightly to the caramel malty side, providing a bit more sweetness than the hops do bitterness. Early caramel sweetness seems a bit one-sided, but as the citrus and grassy notes set in, the beer balances well at mid palate and grows into a fairly clean bitterness as the malts fall and the crisp dryness sets in. Light vegital must and slight grain taste also persists in finish.

Malty-sweet early, the beer holds onto it's caramel sweetness giving the impression of creamy weight through mid palate; dying off just before the bittering and drying finish. Mild astringency may be hops, may be grain but remain mild.

A good, standard American pale ale. If the caramel sweetness had more depth and roundness, and if the balance were of a cleaner, hoppier demeanor, the beer could fare better. But the beer is a welcome for most beer enthusiasts anytime.

Serving type: on-tap

06-30-2011 15:37:51 | More by BEERchitect

tempest

Pennsylvania

4.15/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Had a pint at the brewpub. Overall, this was a great example of the style, but with local, upstate NY hops. I really appreciated that the body was kept to an easy, drinkable weight. The hops were in the aroma and flavor with a grassy, Cascade-like citrus character. The barley provided the proper balance with a little sweet bready taste. I'm not usually too impressed by pale ales, but this is a great beer.

Serving type: on-tap

04-24-2011 16:09:53 | More by tempest

CaptDavyJones

New York

3.9/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Had this on-tap at Empire Brewery.
Clear, golden color with a decent head that dissipated fairly quickly.
Aroma is a nice blend of floral hops, citrus and a hint of malts.
Taste is predominantly hoppy with hints of malt in the finish. Crisp pale ale from Empire, although it is more on the hoppier side than I would have liked for a pale ale.
Nevertheless this is a good pale ale, worth a try if you head down to Empire. Paired well with the chicken nachos from their menu.

Serving type: on-tap

01-07-2011 19:49:40 | More by CaptDavyJones

Reagan1984

Massachusetts

4.35/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Had this beer on tap at the Blue Tusk, across the street from Empire Brewing. Since it was not listed, I called Empire brewing to confirm I was about to post the correct beer. They confirmed the name, style and ABV.

First off, this is an excellent beer.

Each pint came with about a finger ½ of creamy white head. Decent retention and a lot of lacing remained in the glass. Bright amber color leaning towards a little brass.

Aroma was bright fresh and very nice. A mix between some light hops and toasted malt. The first hint that this is a very well balanced beer. Also a slight black pepper note in the nose that definitely shows itself in the flavor as well.

Excellent flavor and as mentioned above spot on in the balance area. Nice toasted malt flavor plays nicely with fresh floral hops. All of this has a subtle black pepper spice lingering behind it. Cracker/crusty bread like with a perfect slight bitter finish.

Shy of oily, and slight carbonation. Fresh in your mouth.

This is a very nice beer and single handedly raised my level of respect for Empire.

I hope they begin to distribute this beer in a wider geography... Well done!!!

Serving type: on-tap

09-10-2010 18:05:17 | More by Reagan1984