Full Nelson Virginia Pale Ale - Blue Mountain Brewery

StoneTSR

Colorado

4.8/5  rDev +24.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

APPEARANCE: Copper and transparent minus a touch of haze. A homogeneous, thick, white and fluffy head rests on top with a nice bit of retention.

SMELL: Pine and hops hit the nose immediately. A strong, traditional IPA smell. It smells rich and potent.

TASTE: Pine and caramel combine for a delicious sweetness at the front end. A well-balanced beer, the Full Nelson cedes its sweetness to the hops on the back end and allows them to close out the sip. An appetizingly bitter aftertaste leaves the palate wanting more. This is a downright delicious beer.

MOUTHFEEL: Lively and bubbly, but slightly mouth coating. For all the richness in nose and flavor, the Full Nelson is surprisingly light to drink.

OVERALL: When I arrived at the Blue Mountain Brewery this past fall I did not know what to expect, but I honestly did not expect a whole lot. I ended up being very impressed with the people, the food and most importantly, the beer there. The highlight for me, by far, was the Full Nelson. One of the better beers I ever tasted. After sampling the whole line up I had two pints of this and grabbed a sixer of cans on the way out. I knew it would keep very well, and two months later, this tastes just as good as it did on tap. If you find this stuff, pick it up. You'll be happy.

Serving type: can

12-16-2010 23:54:54 | More by StoneTSR

GFish

Virginia

3.25/5  rDev -15.6%

05-25-2013 20:18:06 | More by GFish

mikeincharleston

South Carolina

3.5/5  rDev -9.1%

05-23-2013 01:20:59 | More by mikeincharleston

TimHitchings

New Jersey

3.75/5  rDev -2.6%

05-20-2013 02:58:40 | More by TimHitchings

lupercmda

North Carolina

3.5/5  rDev -9.1%

05-18-2013 21:57:22 | More by lupercmda

mkirkland80

Virginia

4.25/5  rDev +10.4%

05-18-2013 02:22:35 | More by mkirkland80

virinow

New York

3.5/5  rDev -9.1%

05-16-2013 20:17:09 | More by virinow

ipas-for-life

Virginia

3.75/5  rDev -2.6%

05-14-2013 22:36:48 | More by ipas-for-life

ShemRahBoo

New Jersey

3.75/5  rDev -2.6%

05-14-2013 21:12:42 | More by ShemRahBoo

baybassboy

California

3.25/5  rDev -15.6%

05-14-2013 04:15:27 | More by baybassboy

spitshaded

Virginia

4/5  rDev +3.9%

05-13-2013 04:10:44 | More by spitshaded

gshackles

New York

4/5  rDev +3.9%

05-12-2013 18:52:47 | More by gshackles

jtierney89

New Jersey

3/5  rDev -22.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Crystal clear orange glow with big bright white sticky head. Interesting sweet and fruity nose. Caramel, some pine and tropical fruit. Lots of malty caramel sugar up front followed by bright fruitiness and moderate bitterness to balance. Bitterness is a nice contras to the bright sweetness. Slick mouth feel, hop resin, dull carbonation medium to full bodied. A super complex and pretty good pale ale but at the price of $12.99 a 6? You can find better pales.

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2013 22:38:56 | More by jtierney89

chinchill

South Carolina

3.84/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

12 oz can served in a snifter. Dark, clear amber -- a bit darker than average for style -- with a near creamy bone colored head that has moderate retention and very good lacing. Fine spicy/floral aroma. More flavorful, including a tad more hoppy, than average, with a nice mix of fruity/herbal/grassy hops. Restrained bitterness until the mild-moderately bitter aftertaste. Nicely smooth feel, with medium body and near medium carbonation.

Serving type: can

05-04-2013 00:09:39 | More by chinchill

Oboogie

Minnesota

3.5/5  rDev -9.1%

05-03-2013 18:37:02 | More by Oboogie

djrn2

New Jersey

3.75/5  rDev -2.6%

05-02-2013 17:40:38 | More by djrn2

jlindros

Massachusetts

3.6/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to HeadyHops81 for this one, yay craft beer cans!

Pours a frothy but thick and creamy 2 finger head that fades semi slowly with plenty of layered lacing, over hazy auburn tan orange beer.

Nose has some light amber malts, a little toasty reddish and sweet caramel candy malts, as well as light hops, earthy and fruity mostly, light candied citrus.

Taste brings sweeter malts, candy like caramel and toasty reddish almost amber malts, sweet and smooth, hint of a nutty toffee. Then hops, lighter side of the hop flavors but some bitterness, slight earthy grassy hops, little bit of candied citrus and some fruity flavors, and turns a bit to chewy hops. Finish is fairly bitter, more chewy earthy slightly grassy hops lingering, somewhat dry, but plenty of candy caramel malt flavors too.

Mouth is med bodied, lots of fluffy carbonation.

Overall meh, it has quite a bit of malts too malty overall IMO, hops are lighter in overall profile and mostly just bitterness comes through so it doesn't have a great hop profile either, and even the carbonation is a little too much I think. The balance is at least nice, but the sweetness and bitterness both seem to go a bit too far.

Serving type: can

04-27-2013 21:43:16 | More by jlindros

ChrisKayler

Virginia

3.75/5  rDev -2.6%

04-25-2013 18:43:11 | More by ChrisKayler

ShanePB

Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -15.6%

04-25-2013 13:39:11 | More by ShanePB

JayQue

Virginia

3.63/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Nice rich malty pale ale. Pours an amber orange color, fairly clear with a big frothy white head. Good retention and some lacing.

Smell is a bit mild, mostly sweet malts.

Taste starts off mild, sweet, malty and with a little metallic taste. After a sip or two the rich malt flavor takes over and the beer appears more rich. A little piney hops at the end.

Mouthfeel seems a bit weak at first taste, after that it is crisp and rich enough.

A pretty good Pale Ale. I would drink this one again. Cans is a good idea. This one would be fine as a six pack in the great outdoors.

Serving type: can

04-25-2013 02:15:17 | More by JayQue

Oakenator

Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +13.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a nice deep brownish-orange color. Full head that lingers around fairly well and leaves a little lacing on the wall of the glass. Aroma is a bit hoppy for a pale ale but good - pilsner and pine. Flavor is nicely balanced and refreshing - hop pop to start and then a nice fade to malts and a bit of pilsner on the end.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2013 22:55:50 | More by Oakenator

John_Schlaffer

New Jersey

3.25/5  rDev -15.6%

04-21-2013 22:33:58 | More by John_Schlaffer

Boone757

Maryland

4/5  rDev +3.9%

04-21-2013 19:24:07 | More by Boone757

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

3.51/5  rDev -8.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to my friend Christian for bringing this and a few other Blue Mountain brews up my way.

A pretty standard pale ale here, not bad overall. Clear amber pour with a half-finger of fizzy white head that sank to a ringlet; minimal lacing. Aroma of toasted grains, caramel malts, grassy hops. No surprises. Basically the same on the palate, caramel malts, toasted grains, earthy and grassy hops, with a subtle touch of stone fruit. Light-medium body. Not the best of its class, but a pretty easy drinker overall.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2013 10:28:46 | More by Rifugium

Dagsy

California

4.25/5  rDev +10.4%

04-20-2013 22:54:38 | More by Dagsy