Pale 31 - Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

ffejherb

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz. bottle into half pint on 10/19/09.

A - Poured a hazy pale golden body with thin, bubbly off-white head that reduced to a patchy film and spotty lace.

S - Sweet and fruity with apparent citrus notes suggesting orange pulp. Sweet caramel malt provides adequate balance.

T - Citrusy hops with a subtle orange rind character backed by sweet caramel malt. Finish is slightly medicinal.

M - Medium bodied with an oily texture and soft carbonation. Sweet with minimal hop bitterness on the palate.

D - Not a bad pale ale, although I found this to be sweeter than hoppier overall. Decent enough, but nothing to rave about.

Serving type: bottle

10-20-2009 19:52:10 | More by ffejherb

david18

New York

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This was one of four beers in a flight that I had and the others may have been a bit overpowering to really enjoy this beer but in general I liked it a lot. Great golden color, good aroma, mouthfeel and flavor were very good and the low abv makes it very sessionable.

Serving type: on-tap

10-31-2009 01:53:02 | More by david18

CHSLBrew

Minnesota

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4

12 oz. bottle poured into a piece of hotel room glassware. Enjoyed while relaxing in the hotel after a day of vacation in San Fransisco.

A-Dark golden beer, hazy (probably chill haze), exhibiting a pleasant glow. White head was sparse off the pour, but some of it remained through the whole drink.

S-Slight citrus, herbal hoppy aroma.

T-Toasty, nutty malts, largely dry in character, with bright, light citrus hoppiness.

M-High carbonation is too bubbly. Medium-light body, typical if not too light.

D-Tasty, though nothing special, I suppose. Still, quite drinkable. Easy and enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2010 17:00:17 | More by CHSLBrew

klikger

Wisconsin

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle (thanks ptykozoon!) poured into a Goose Island IPA tulip

A - Very light amber, almost no head, but nice lacing.

S - Vanilla, floral hops

T - Floral hops & fresh grass --> a bit of honey --> slightly bitter, clean finish. Overall, there's not a ton going on here - solid APA, but not mind-blowing.

M - Pretty light, actually. Good carbonation, though.

D - Quite drinkable - low ABV, non-offensive beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-28-2010 22:34:17 | More by klikger

beagle75

Iowa

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Draft pour into a shaker pint glass at Yard House in Irvine.

A: Clear, light amber color with one finger of diminishing white foam head. Light lacing remains on the glass.

S: Mild floral hops outpace the barest hint of toasted malt making for a smell that is weak, unmemorable, and slightly papery.

T: Begins off-dry and rather busy, with butter, toasted pale malt, floral and earthy hop aromatics, and some estery mixed fruit. A whiff of butterscotch is detected in the middle as other aromatic flavors fade while acidity peaks. The finish is clean and toasty, dry by comparison, but only mildly bitter.

M: Thin to medium viscosity, balanced on the palate, with low carbonation.

D: Hardly a little brother to Firestone's Union Jack, this beer is a decent pale with some assertive English qualities on display. It lacks any West Coast hop profile which seems surprising for a beer labeled a 'California pale ale' by its own brewer, yet it generates some interest with more traditional qualities while keeping the abv low and appropriate.

Serving type: on-tap

03-20-2011 01:27:53 | More by beagle75

cagocubs

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

While visiting Cali I found this at the market, was not familiar with this brewery, but was glad I tried them.

Look: Pours a transparent gold/orange color with a 1 finger head. Lots of active carbonation feeding into the head.

Smell: Earth tones include hops, citrus, pine. Some sweetness.

Taste: The citrus tones are very present in every sip. Hops are good, but not overpowering. The piney taste is not as strong as other APAs.

Feel: Light body with lots of carbonation. Mouth coating is nice.

Serving type: bottle

07-15-2011 04:43:44 | More by cagocubs

Kiwano

New York

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - yellow gold - light orange -- thick creamy head at first and then dissipates into lace

S - hops with a bit of floral

T - Slight sweetness up front somewhat floral very slight bitter but barely so and then a bit more prominent after a while

M - light carbonation -

O - light, tasty, could have a bit better balance between the bitter and slight sweetness maybe more complex flavor

Bottle poured into glass

Serving type: bottle

08-17-2012 04:34:10 | More by Kiwano

vkv822

Oregon

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

12oz : Teku
bottled on 01/02/13

Pours a clear golden with a foamy, craggy white head and nice lacing.

Aroma and taste both consist of citric hops upfront, balanced out by a pleasant biscuit malt backing.

Medium body with average, foamy carbonation.

Nothing particularly outstanding, but an easy drinking, well done APA. Hoppy upfront but well balanced overall.

Serving type: bottle

04-19-2013 07:47:47 | More by vkv822

alexgash

Connecticut

3.53/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: pours an orange-golden with a slight haze and a thin, spittly white head.

Smell: mostly sugar cookie malt, laced with fragrant, citrusy hops.

Taste: fruity malts with a dough-y backbone. Met with a spritzy, citrusy hoppiness. Finish is moderately bitter with lingering citrus and malt.

Mouthfeel and Drinkability: pretty much a standard American pale ale; felt a little on the watery side, but overall not too bad. I liked the citrus quality in the hops.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2004 21:27:06 | More by alexgash

goschool

California

3.53/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

On-tap at the White Harte Pub in Woodland Hills, CA.

Appearance: The color is quite a bit darker than how I remember the bottled version looking. It's darkish amber with a respectable off-white head.

Smell: Sweet, bready malt aromas, much like Double Barrel, take charge of the nose in front of fruity apricot and citrus hops.

Taste: The flavor profile is malty up front, the sweet and bready notes get lighter in the mid-palate, and the fruity hops give the finish a burst of bitterness.

Mouthfeel: It's medium-bodied and smooth, but it's a tiny bit aqueous.

Drinkability: I think the crisp flavors in the bottled version make this beer more drinkable than the sweet malty draft offering.

Serving type: on-tap

04-20-2007 18:50:46 | More by goschool

USCTrojanBrian

Maryland

3.53/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle poured into nonic.

Firestone makes some great pales but this really was deflating. Watery, nothing too spicy (maybe it was the 4.8%) or complex, almost transparent golden color.

Would go well with pretzels or something as there is a certain body to it, but stand-alone is meh.

Serving type: bottle

09-21-2008 04:34:04 | More by USCTrojanBrian

drabmuh

Maryland

3.53/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I was not impressed with this beer. Poured from a bottle into a standard pint glass. Beer is yellow and hazy. Carbonation is low, a thin white, broken head floats around on top clinging to the glass, leaving almost no lacing.

This beer has almost a sweet / plastic aroma to it. There are some hops in there but more than that there is just this sweet candy like aroma. I don't smell the malt. Maybe buttery. I'm not sure what's going to happen.

Beer is medium body, so that's good. The flavors are mild and understated, which is fine. The sweetness I smelled is present in the beer, for sure. There isn't a lot of bitterness, no aftertaste, I'm not sure how the different flavors are playing together, they all seem disconnected. Drinkability is fine so is mouthfeel.

Serving type: bottle

12-01-2009 21:03:31 | More by drabmuh

GNWBC

Washington

3.53/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

This is a great brew to session with your boys on a warm summer night.
A: pours a golden orange with a thin white head and minimal lacing

S: lots of orange, little spice and floral hop notes

T: just like it smells, mild orange and honey, nice hop bite to it

M: goes down pretty clean, doesn't leave that funky hop resin that gives you cottonmouth.

OA: good PA pretty tame but thats not a bad thing, like i said i would gladly session with this during the summer.

Serving type: bottle

01-11-2012 18:41:35 | More by GNWBC

tobelerone

New Jersey

3.53/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

An easy drinking, near-session weight pale that’s a lot less west coast than I’d expected. Clear amber color with a good sized head, solid retention and lacing. Visibly lively carbonation. Nice aroma that’s more floral than anything else; less citrusy than I anticipated, perhaps why I felt this was less of a west coast IPA-light than I thought I was getting myself into. Taste follows the nose closely, with floral and grassy hops very forward, ample bitterness, and a light grainy malt character beneath.

Carbonation was crisp, body pretty light, and the finish was short and dry. Tasty but not exactly exceptional or memorable for me. Perhaps a little unexciting?

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2012 18:16:01 | More by tobelerone

mooseo

Pennsylvania

3.53/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle poured into pint glass.

A - Clear gold brown with a fluffy white head.

S - Bright fruity hops with some light caramel malt notes.

T - Good balance of citrus hops and caramel malt. Some piney and grassy flavors throughout. Slightly bitter finish.

M - Smooth, crisp, light-medium in body. Average carbonation.

O - Solid pale ale. The hop and malt flavors are rather subtle, but work together well. It's just an extremely drinkable and refreshing brew.

Serving type: bottle

03-06-2012 01:34:20 | More by mooseo

MattThomas

California

3.55/5  rDev -9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Again, a decent head with a mild nose. This pale ale is fairly true to style in taste. The big draw to Firestone Walker is the oak barrel fermenting, yet their beers are very clean with little oak notes. The pale has a slightly less that solid hop character and still not much of a malt balance. Perhaps this one falls a little week.

I still find this drinkable and better than the Macro-brew alternatives, but will not be something worth shipping across the country for others to try.

Serving type: bottle

10-27-2004 00:54:24 | More by MattThomas

pjwilson

California

3.55/5  rDev -9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3.5

appearance: very pale, almost unpeallingly so. nice head though

smell: ok that's some nice hop aroma, i gotta admit. it's the kind of hops I like in a APA too. dry hopping.

taste: wow this is a hoppy beer. not very bitter though, almost under bittered for how hoppy it is. But i'm tasting chinook alot. there is no malt balance to this beer.
mouthfeel: here's were things go wrong; this beer is very, very watery. It so hoppy and yet it sort of feels like you are drinking water. It's not very fun.
drinkability: well i got a single and i'm going slowly and I won't buy this in bottles again. It's just too watery, smell just isn't enough to sell a beer no matter how great the nose is.

Serving type: bottle

12-02-2005 09:16:54 | More by pjwilson

ClockworkOrange

Pennsylvania

3.55/5  rDev -9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Firestone Walker is new to PA. Picked up a single bottle at The Beer Stop for $2. Poured into my shaker "pint" glass. Appears a clear golden yellow color with about half an inch of quickly fading off white foam. Smells lemon, tangerine, biscuits, and pine. Tastes of bitter orange peel, bready malts, maybe a touch of grapefruit pith. Slightly thin bodied with medium carbonation. Dry, bitter finish. Not too shabby for an APA.

Serving type: bottle

04-17-2009 03:06:28 | More by ClockworkOrange

colts9016

Idaho

3.55/5  rDev -9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured into a pint glass at 40 degrees.

Appearance: A thin white head that has no retention. The color of the beer is a medium gold color, with copper hues. The clarity of the beer is clear to brilliant. There is effervescence in the beer.

Nose: A descent bright floral aroma with hints of grapefruit, pine toasted malt and some biscuit characters.

Taste: A good amount of floral esters, grapefruit, and light pine. The malt is lightly toasted and cracker and biscuit notes.

Overall: The mouth feel is boring, carbonated, and slightly crisp. The body of the beer is light and the finish is medium light. I was hoping more from Firestone Walker but I get this boring interesting poor pale ale.

Serving type: bottle

03-20-2010 02:31:42 | More by colts9016

dbmernin83

California

3.55/5  rDev -9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Hazy golden, bubbly head and light lacing.

Smells of citrus hops and more citrus hops

Tastes like a lemon had an orgy with some hops! Light malt tries to poke its head in to see what's going on, but is quickly apprehended and shoved out by the hops

On the lighter side on the mouth.

Definitely a sessionable beer if you like citrus.

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2011 04:55:21 | More by dbmernin83

denver10

Colorado

3.55/5  rDev -9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

4: Bright, yellow with a tint of orange to it. Minimal head with slight retention.

S: Strong citrus rind smell that I associate with pale ales. Carries.

T: Taste follows the nose pretty well, a little more umph to the flavor, which I think is coming from the nice layer of malt, than the typical pale ale which I totally appreciate. Refreshing to boot.

M: Creamy and nice medium body to it.

O: Solid, but not a personal favorite.

Serving type: bottle

12-22-2011 02:07:10 | More by denver10

dar482

New York

3.56/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

The color is a golden copper pale color.

The flavor has a huge round grain maltiness at the end. The hops in this beer are quite light, nothing too powerful.

The mouthfeel is a bit light, but the malt roundness really gives it some decent body.

In the end, I prefer the sweetness and juiciness that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale has.

Serving type: on-tap

04-29-2013 20:44:46 | More by dar482

TastyTaste

Minnesota

3.58/5  rDev -8.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance: Clear light copper color, fast fading white head, leaving a little lace and some foam on top of the beer.

Smell: Nice hops in the nose, dry and citric, very inviting.

Taste:A little subdued, maybe underpowered, but not bad. Hops and malt are in harmony. Definitely a sessionable APA.

Drinkability: Because of it's low ABV and subtle flavors, sessioning and drinking would be very easy Thanks to Zorro for the bottle.

Serving type: bottle

04-14-2006 02:23:04 | More by TastyTaste

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.58/5  rDev -8.2%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4

Sessionable, serviceable, drinkable pale. Floral and citrus and malty aroma. Light colour with short-lasting foam. Tasty and citrus hops comcommitant with aggressive carbonation. Medium or less body. Slight better than average pale, average beer overall.

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2007 00:50:00 | More by northyorksammy

litheum94

California

3.58/5  rDev -8.2%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle. No bottling dates.

Clear, golden body. Bone-white head with big bubbles that pop and fizzle, leaving moderate coverage.

Very floral hops on the nose. Some pine. Brown sugar-like sweet malts. Bready. Tropical fruit sweetness.

Floral tones. Apricot sweetness. Bready, with a decent malt backbone. Some citrus flavors and a very sneaky pine bitterness on the finish. Crisp, with good carbonation.

Very subtle tones. Good flavors, and very sessionable. Won't knock your socks off, but I could drink a bunch of these.

Serving type: bottle

04-20-2011 04:10:28 | More by litheum94