Silverback Pale Ale
Thirsty Planet Brewing Company

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From:
Thirsty Planet Brewing Company
 
Texas, United States
Style:
American Pale Ale
ABV:
5.5%
Score:
83
Avg:
3.56 | pDev: 10.39%
Reviews:
5
Ratings:
23
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Mar 04, 2023
Added:
Jan 25, 2011
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  3
No description / notes.
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Photo of Darkmagus82
Reviewed by Darkmagus82 from Texas

3.94/5  rDev +10.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured from a can into a pint glass
Appearance – The beer pours a clear deep amber color with a one finger head of yellowish tinted foam. The head has a great level of retention, fading slowly over time to leave a little bit of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is strong of a bready malt mixed with aromas of caramel. Other lighter aromas of pine and earth are mixed in there as well, with a touch of herb and orange peel rounding it all out.
Taste – The taste begins with a somewhat bready malt flavor mixed with a touch of the caramel that was in the nose. There is a moderate showing of some herbal and pine hop flavors upfront, with both getting a bit more potent as the taste advances on the tongue. At the same time some light earthy hop tastes join in, and with a slight decrease in the maltiness and caramel, one is left with a moderately dankly hopped taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is medium to slightly thicker with a carbonation level that is average. For the middle of the road nature of the brew the feel is good and makes for a easy sipper.
Overall – A rather good, non citrus laden, pale ale. One that is a bit more dank and rather fun overall.
Mar 04, 2023
 
Rated: 3 by RiceOwls27 from Texas

Jul 16, 2020
 
Rated: 3.75 by Luckydog91 from Texas

May 14, 2020
 
Rated: 3.38 by cgrunin from Texas

Apr 01, 2015
Photo of gwatts22
Rated by gwatts22 from Texas

4.49/5  rDev +26.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Local, fresh from the edge of Austin.
Feb 20, 2015
 
Rated: 3.46 by Dicers from California

Feb 15, 2015
 
Rated: 3.55 by WiscoTerr from Colorado

Feb 08, 2015
Photo of Jugs_McGhee
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Colorado

3.21/5  rDev -9.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
64oz screw-top growler filled at The Growler Room here in Austin mere hours ago. Served cold into a pilsner glass. Expectations are above average; I adore Thirsty Planet's Thirsty Goat Amber, but haven't cared much for their other offerings.

6.2% ABV. 36 IBU. Brewed in Winter each year for the Austin Gorilla Run.

Poured with unusual vigor given the weight of the growler, which forces an odd pouring angle.

No bubble show forms as it's poured.

HEAD: 4 fingers wide. Foamy and frothy as hell, with sticky white lacing adhering to the glass. Bubble-y and rather creamy for a pale ale; it almost reminds me of Guinness. The consistency isn't as settled, smooth, or even as I usually see in beers of the style. Head retention is shockingly good - easily 10 minutes - and this is from a growler. I'm pleasantly surprised by how good this head seems.

BODY: Translucent transparent pale copper of above average vibrance. Clean; no yeast particulate or hop sediment is visible. Clearly filtered.

Appears well-carbonated. It's atypically appealing for a pale ale, in large part due to its impressive head. I'm excited for the first sip.

AROMA: The hop profile is interesting, and certainly different from the usual floral-and-citrus build you find in California-imitating Texan breweries. Pine, evergreen, sticky resins, and herbal notes. Maybe even a dab of spruce. The hops are nicely tamed by a timid pale malt backbone, which never lends too much sweetness. A bit of caramalt adds some additional complexity, but isn't overdone. The malts are lightly toasty and biscuity.

Aromatic intensity is mild, but the overall character is rather robust. I'm eager to try it.

No yeast character, overt alcohol, or off-notes are detectable.

TASTE: Bubblegum is present in the first act, a hop note I'm not usually big on, but it works fairly well once the evergreen and pine hit in the early second act. It's a bit resinous, but not enough so for my tastes, and the herbal hop character is interesting but not quite dialed in. The hop bitterness is well balanced by the pale malt sweetness, but I think they could up the ante on the perceived hop bitterness. It finishes clean and sweet, with a lingering biscuity caramalt tone that hangs in the aftertaste.

It's an approachable pale ale with some nice flavours, and has a loose cohesion and a general balance, but it's ultimately underwhelming. It's shallow and lacks the intensity of flavour needed in a good pale. But the flavour duration is above average and I like what they're going for with the hop profile. I'd like to see the bubblegum gone and resins played up, as well as bit more pale malt to fill out the body. More complexity and diversity of flavour is needed for this pale ale to compete with the big dogs.

There's no yeast or alcohol presence, and I find no off-notes.

TEXTURE: Way too light-bodied and almost a bit thin, lacking the heft and weight on the palate it requires. It's aptly smooth, wet, and refreshing, and its light body makes it more drinkable than most pale ales, but it comes off a bit weak as a result.

This texture fails to elevate the beer, but does complement the taste generally well. Has some kinks that could be ironed out.

Not oily, gushed, hot, boozy, astringent, harsh, rough, or scratchy.

OVERALL: Highly drinkable, but also rather forgettable, with a fairly generic build and a wanting body. While it's certainly above average, it's not up to par with Thirsty Planet's best work and I wouldn't buy it again. That said, I'll be happy to finish the growler and this is interesting enough that I'll gladly continue to give Thirsty Planet's less common offerings reviews going forward. You could do worse, but you can do a hell of a lot better - even Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale is far better, and that's available damn near anywhere I'd want to go in the USA.

High C+
Jan 29, 2015
 
Rated: 3.74 by kjkinsey from Texas

Jan 18, 2015
 
Rated: 3 by atxrax from Texas

Dec 14, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by thereal_adam from Texas

Aug 07, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by Karibourgeois from Texas

Mar 09, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by greenspointexas from Texas

Dec 14, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by StevenLaValley from Texas

Nov 01, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by Jame515 from Texas

Sep 27, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by JamLand from District of Columbia

Jun 28, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by NeverSettle from Texas

Jan 12, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by Texasfan549 from Texas

Feb 20, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by ThirstyInAustin from Colorado

Feb 18, 2012
Photo of omnigrits
Reviewed by omnigrits from Texas

3.97/5  rDev +11.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
On tap at Red's Porch.

A. Pale amber with a bit more yellow than I'm used to in a pale ale. Thin head, minimal lace, but that aspect of a beer is always a bit suspect when you're at a bar and you don't know for sure how clean the glass is.

S. A pretty good hit of rich malt and plenty of piney hops.

T. More of the same. In fact this is one beer that's almost identical in taste and aroma. A nice touch of bitterness around the edge of the tongue and in the finish as it goes down.

M. Medium bodied with a nicely balanced carbonation.

O. A nicely made pale ale that I could easily drink all evening. The hops are not overdone and the malt comes through nicely. There's an almost English bitter-style fruitiness. I'm going to order another after this one.
Jan 02, 2012
Silverback Pale Ale from Thirsty Planet Brewing Company
Beer rating: 83 out of 100 with 23 ratings