Essential Pale Ale - Port City Brewing

dtreindl

Virginia

4.15/5  rDev +17.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Great new beer from a worthy new brewery. If you like the citrusy style of American pale ales, this is one to try. Not too strong or unique so it's safe for repeated consumption. But a solid example of a delightfully aromatic and tasty American PA. You probably won't shout "WOW!" but I trust you won't be disappointed either.

Serving type: bottle

05-25-2011 23:49:50 | More by dtreindl

drabmuh

Maryland

3.23/5  rDev -8.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Slightly better. Beer is yellow / amber, quite hazy, thin broken head, halo of bubbles, no real lacing, minimal carbonation.

Aroma is sweet with some malt, yeastiness, and mild hops.

Beer is mildly sweet, medium to light in body, overall a little weak in the profile but mildly hoppy on the finish, overall a decent beer, but nothing too special. Oh well, I still like their porter, their pales need a lot of work.

Serving type: bottle

05-25-2011 04:11:39 | More by drabmuh

tlazaroff

Virginia

3.4/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: Pours a golden honey color with a thin white head. No visible carbonation, and it has a tad of haze.

S: Sadly, noting too noteworthy. I get some fruit on the nose, pineapple, tropical, that kind of thing.

T: Sweeter than I expected. It has a good flavor, the hops are present but not over-powering. Nice hop taste too, just like the nose, pineapple and tropical fruits.

M: Medium bodied with low to moderate carbonation. A tad sweet so its a tad sticky, which coats the palate.

D: High, this is an easy drinking, good pale ale.

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2011 05:33:14 | More by tlazaroff

SummitVA

Maryland

3.5/5  rDev -0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Pale straw pour with moderate carbonation.

S - Light hop character (a little pine and citrus), along with bigger sweet malts. Some breadiness here to a give complexity, but sweetness foremost.

T - Sweetness again at the forefront. This is followed by resiny pine hop character with just a hint of citrus. Big caramel with a bit of toasty bread. Hop bite in finish gives a nice crispness.

M - Nice light brew.

O - My favorite of the Port City offerings thus far. A solid pale ale, and I'll be happy to grab a pint when there is nothing more interesting available, but this is forgettable for the most part. Still, very happy to see Port City at so many places around town, and I'll happily try all of their beers.

Serving type: on-tap

05-21-2011 21:03:38 | More by SummitVA

akorsak

Pennsylvania

3.28/5  rDev -6.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A bottle at RFD, poured into a glass.

A: The pale ale is a darker amber color, closer to nut brown than pale. Paired with the darker appearance is an off-white head that leaves a few layers of lacing behind.

S: The aromas are caramel and grains, a little biscuity, with a small hop afterthought. The hoppiness isn't a big feature of the beer, instead it opts for subtlety.

T: More grainy chewiness. Caramel and biscuit together with darker breads. Hops aren't that strong, more of a balancing aspect. Overall, the flavor is solid but doesn't come with any frills. Content in what it is, an accessible pale ale. Although, truth be told, a few more hops wouldn't hurt.

M: The mouthfeel is malty, very little in the way of citrusy hops. Too bad too, there are few things like a nice well-balanced pale ale.

Serving type: bottle

05-21-2011 01:49:29 | More by akorsak

localone703

Virginia

3.93/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This is a much lighter colored pale ale than usual. Also, not very hoppy - even by standard modest APA standards.

Lighter in color and flavor than Sierra Nevada pale ale. It's a good beer, but maybe more like Frederick Brewing Co.s Tire Bite, which is a light golden ale.

I will drink this and enjoy it, but it is on the lighter side of pale ale while DC Brau is on the stronger side. Buncha weirdos around here I know.

Serving type: on-tap

05-17-2011 02:11:53 | More by localone703

mdfb79

New York

3.43/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Have tried this one several times at the brewery, picked up a bottle at Rick's in Alexandria, VA on Saturday to give it a proper review. Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass.

a - Pours a clear golden color with one finger of white head and moderate carbonation evident. Head lasts for one to two minutes with one inch of white head lasting throughout the drink, and a tiny bit of lacing on the glass.

s - Smells of grain, bready malts, light orange and citrus hops, and light floral notes. Not offensive at all, but pretty average.

t - Tastes of bready malts, biscuit, and grain. Also some light citrus hops, pale malts, and floral hops again. Taste is a slight step up from the nose.

m - Medium body and moderate to high carbonation. Pretty smooth.

d - A nice, slightly above average pale ale. The smell is a little bland and average, with the taste being a little bit better. Overall this is my least favorite beer of the four Port City is currently brewing, but it's still a decent beer worth checking out.

Serving type: bottle

04-12-2011 01:20:58 | More by mdfb79

kevinv

Virginia

3.18/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle into a pint glass. No freshness code noted on the bottle.

A - Pours a clear golden color with a half finger of bubbly white head, which dissipates quickly. No visible lacing is left on the glass. Very little visible carbonation.

S - Light pale malts with the ever-most subtly scent of floral hops.

T - Slightly sweet pale malts, with again, a light hop presesnce and bitterness. Clean and straight-forward, but I'm left looking for more.

M - Light body with a crisp finish. Low-medium carbonation.

D - This could be a "sessionable" beer for me and it's a pretty easy drinker, but kind of boring. Looking forward to trying their other offerings.

Serving type: bottle

04-10-2011 00:08:48 | More by kevinv

smakawhat

Maryland

2.8/5  rDev -20.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured from the bottle into a nonic pint glass.

A two finger head of white bubbles forms but quickly fades off the pour. Very clear and simple amber color is present. Very much borderline.

First impression off the smell for this beer is rank off-putting. It hints at an orange or other citrus fruit, but it's as if the citrus fruit went bad or is at least going rotten. This does NOT smell nice at all.

Taste overall is kind of strange. Finish is probably the best part of the beer but it's a bit wet/watery, a little carbonated sweet in the palate, and has at least a good bread finish. Taste brings at least a basic supermarket orange to the table, but it's also bitter in a bitter fruit way, with no hop or malt presence at all.

Overall this pale ale is very un-even. Not really a good beer from this brewery they have done better. This is disappointing to say the least.

Serving type: bottle

04-09-2011 03:32:00 | More by smakawhat

CuriousMonk

Virginia

2.38/5  rDev -32.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

On tap at Stoney's in DC. Poured into pint glass. Pours a a golden straw/yellow color along with a small white head that fizzles quickly leaving some light lacing throughout. Aroma is medium sweet, orange/lemon, some grapefruit, biscuit with notes of mild malts and hops. Taste is medium sweet, grapefruit, lemon/ornage, light bread, lager lemon. Light-medium body, some acidity which hurt the score. Mild carbonation throughout. Was too bitter and left an unpleasant taste at the end. I cannot go with this one here for the style...

Serving type: on-tap

02-24-2011 22:15:02 | More by CuriousMonk

dedrinker

Kansas

4/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Light golden. clear color, like a continental pilsener. White head.

Light malt aroma with some twinge of caramel and mild hops.

Firm malt quality with a dash of diacetyl and some balancing bittering hops.

Medium, bodied, goes down easy, but with some substance; a good pub-grub sipper with your meal. I like it.

Serving type: growler

02-22-2011 06:22:30 | More by dedrinker

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.58/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap at the brewery the second day after opening.

Pours a light golden color. Pretty transparent in the glass with some carbonation bubbles visible throughout. Good white head and a bit of lacing. The nose is pretty light with some citrus and floral notes. Hops are pretty light, though nice. Taste improve on the nose, which was just a bit too muted. There's certainly some backing malt character and they got the balanced character they were looking for. Pretty good at combining some malt along with some hop flavor. Mouthfeel is light and mildly bitter. Finish is slightly dry. Drinks pretty well and I could see this being quite sessionable. Looking forward to the IPA.

Serving type: on-tap

02-09-2011 01:36:17 | More by Thorpe429

blackie

Virginia

3.6/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

a: pale golden in color with a low, white layer of carbonation

s: lots of clean, crackery pale malts, citrus hops of a slightly herbal, earthy nature

m: light bodied with a crisp, low-moderate carbonation

t: simply structured - clean and crackery grains with only a slight sugar presence, earthy citrus flavors, mild to moderate bitterness with fairly dry finish

d: balanced and drinkable, a little lacking in flavor depth for my preference, though it's refreshing to have a straightforward but well-made beer from time to time

Serving type: growler

02-07-2011 04:45:30 | More by blackie

ahalloin

Virginia

3.63/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Served on tap at the brewery.

Pours a VERY clear golden color with orange hues. The white foam cap was decent but hard to judge on a 5 oz. pour in a taster glass.

The smell combined a more dominant toasty rich continental Europe malt with a lesser aspect of light hops. The hop aspect is what I perceive as a sweet, perfumy, lightly citric hop character that comes from Amarillo.

The taste is good and quenching, but subdued. Light toffee malt with some toastiness coral a light hop flavor. The hops used are definitely American used in a way to add a slight accent. Clean finish with little aftertaste.

Mouthfeel is nice with a medium body and low-medium carbonation.

Drinkability is quite good, but this beer doesn't overwhelm the senses in any form. Dare I say it's sessionable?! Well, it is. And it will be great for locals to get a fresh, locally-made APA.

Serving type: on-tap

02-04-2011 23:34:06 | More by ahalloin