Hawaiian Style Pale Ale - Spearhead Brewing Company

TheSevenDuffs

Ontario (Canada)

4.35/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On tap at Grindhouse Burger Bar. Served in Spearhead tulip glass.

A - Hazy medium orange colour with one finger of bubbly off-white head.

S - Citrus, tropical fruit and a good overall bitterness. Slight caramel malt backbone present as well. Not getting the pineapple.

T - Bitter grafefruit, very faint tropical fruit and a touch of pine. Some sweet caramel in the background as well. Don't specifically get the pineapple.

M - Medium body. Light carbonation.

O - I really enjoyed this one and had 3 or 4 pints over the weekend at various places. A great introduction in to the Ontario craft beer market. I look forward to their future releases.

Serving type: on-tap

09-13-2011 16:03:38 | More by TheSevenDuffs

heebes

Ontario (Canada)

4.1/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On-tap at C'est What.

Pours a crisp orange amber with a thin off white head, lacing sticks at the top of the glass. Nose was very bright, lots of hop aroma - light fruit, citrus, pineapple of course. Taste was impressive and had a good balance of malt backbone to support the dose of hops. Bitter finish lingered well throughout the beer. Medium bodied all round, mouth feel was decently drinkable. Overall I was taken in with this new beer/brewery, the pineapple extract makes for a super fruity/floral smell, and the balanced taste hit the right spot. Delicious, refreshing, nice to try on tap.

Serving type: on-tap

08-28-2011 23:43:01 | More by heebes

jrenihan

Ontario (Canada)

4.1/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Beer is a dark golden/light amber colour. A small but relatively long-lasting white head is on top. Good lacing.

The beer had to warm up a bit before I got a lot of aroma, but when I did it was really nice. Quite juicy, with lots of citrus. The pineapple becomes very noticeable over time. Beer generally smells very "fresh".

Taste has a nice level of bitterness, with lots of citrus present. The pineapple is very subtle, but adds a lovely juicy flavour to the beer that is really great. I don't think I would have picked out 'pineapple juice' on my own if I had not known it was there, but when you are looking it is quite apparent. The finish is fairly bitter.

Moderate to high carbonation. Would normally be too much for me, but I find that it works in this beer. A nice medium body. Very refreshing.

Overall. a really good beer. Great start for the brewery. I have enjoyed this beer a number of times now and am always eager to have another. To me, a great example of a brewery being creative without being absurd.

Serving type: on-tap

08-03-2011 16:11:17 | More by jrenihan

hopsolutely

Ontario (Canada)

4.33/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A very impressive new addition to Ontario's APA offerings.

Enjoyed in a designated tulip glass whose shape was perhaps the least pleasant part of the whole tasting. Beautiful clear, orange amber with nice head, decent lacing and enjoyable carbonation level. Mouthfeel is pleasant, without the oiliness sometimes present at this ABV.

Aroma is pure "west-coast" hop - plus the tropical notes of pineapple. The taste is fantastic, with the tropical tones well balanced against its citrus core. Highly recommend.

Enjoyed at the Woolwich Arms in Guelph. This is the first time I have seen this beer on tap outside of a beer show, and it is definitely one I will order again.

Serving type: on-tap

07-16-2011 19:21:05 | More by hopsolutely

peensteen

Ontario (Canada)

4.1/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Hazy orange colour, one finger of white head with lots of lace. Smell is bursting with citrus, hoppy, grapefruit, mango, pineapple and a nice malt deep down. Taste is hoppy with a long bitterness, a pleasant light acidity, mango, pineapple, citrus and a nice clean finish. Good feel, medium carbonation, full body and fairly oily. Awesome first brew, could easily drink this all night long, solid stuff all the way.

Serving type: on-tap

07-02-2011 23:39:12 | More by peensteen

ritzkiss

Ontario (Canada)

4.08/5  rDev +3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

On tap at The Only, a 400ml serving in the Spearhead glass. Same price as a pint though... wonder if this is typical of this offering across establishments?

Pours a hazed apricot orange with a finger of head which recedes to a collar and leaves small patches of lacing.

Nose shows off some tropical fruits, dashes of grapefruit, floral, and a faint hint of sweet pineapple and a light caramel presence. Not as aromatic as hoped. Flavor is graced with a good dose of hops, grapefruit and tropical fruits - papaya and pineapple in particular. Definitely notice the pineapple juice giving it a sweet and slightly acidic note in the finish, kind of thins out the finish as well in my opinion. Moderate hop bite which is bold for Ontario, pretty smooth drinking, nice drier finish which I like from my IPAs, no hint of the ABV, refreshing and hoppy.

Can't help but think that with the hop profile I would prefer it without the addition of pineapple juice but they're going for different so I guess it fits. Not a perfect beer but a solid first offering that promises good things in the future, which is great for Ontario beer drinkers. Would gladly order it again.

Serving type: on-tap

06-22-2011 19:50:57 | More by ritzkiss

cratez

Ontario (Canada)

4.35/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On tap at Gambrinus Bistro & Cafe. Sampled during the London launch party of Spearhead Brewing Company.

Pours a hazed amber orange with one finger of eggshell white froth and sheets of lacing on the tulip.

Smell is tropical fruit, clementine, pine needles, floral and resiny hops, faint doughiness, and red grapefruit. Mild pineapple aromas develop as the beer warms.

Taste is fruity, juicy, and citric hops upfront, orange peel and grapefruit mid-palate, big pithy, resinous, and astringent bitterness (somewhat sharp and acidic) with pineapple on the cough.

Mouthfeel is silky smooth, medium bodied, spicy middle gives way to a juicy and bitter astringency on the tongue. IBUs linger in the drying finish.

Overall, Hawaiian Style Pale Ale is a very bold, flavourful, and hop-forward IPA with amazing drinkability. I will order this routinely if it gets regular rotation at my favourite local bars. Slightly better than Smash Bomb IMHO. Well done, Tomas and Steve!

Serving type: on-tap

06-21-2011 03:54:23 | More by cratez

mrmanning

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap at Gambrinus launch party. Many samples. A hazy orange with a two finger soapy white cap. Lots of sticky lace left behind after the swirl. The aromas are fruit forward, with tropical fruits leading the way, and leading to white grapefruit and tangerine with herbal/floral tones. Very pleasing and appealing. Sweet fruity malts compliment the ripe and fresh hoppy bitterness. Medium bodied, fruity, and very, very bitter, and astringent finish. Soft and creamy carbonation. One of the best in this province. The quality here is hard to match.

Serving type: on-tap

06-20-2011 15:28:26 | More by mrmanning

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.63/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Beer Launch at Volo. Pours apricot coloured body with a small white head. Modest fruit hoppy aromas. Average mouthfeel, however fizzy carbonation. Served on the too cold side, 4 degrees Celcius. Better colder, as that yields a hoppy beer with a shot of pineapple in the finish. As it warmed I found it drier than I would like, and the pineapple only adding to the significant acidicity I experienced. Seemed a bit boozier than the 6.5% listed, maybe in the 7.5% range, which the pineapple juice acts as to give it a "fruit punch effect" of hiding the alcohol. Still very drinkable.
Had again a much later batch, 6 weeks later. Pineapple was very constrained but so was the edge. Moderated beer in all respects.Not as good as even the first batch.
I had this again mid-november at Cloak & Dagger and it was way too pineapple juice which detracted from the style. A fruit beer hopped up.

Serving type: on-tap

06-17-2011 02:59:40 | More by northyorksammy