Great Lakes Burning River is the perfect place to start! It was my first pale ale and remains to this day as one of my favorites. Plus, you can get it almost anywhere. You can read about it here...Burning River Pale Ale
Really enjoyed New Belgium's Dig Pale Ale & recommend. and if all else fails, Sierra Nevada is a delicious pale ale as well. I've found some of my favorites by just blindly trying singles from bottle shops that have those policies, perhaps that would be a great way to cater to your individual tastes, since we all experience things a little differently.
A bit hoppy but goes down well and may change your opinion of what you should expect in a hoppy beer, Nugget Nectar by Troegg's just came out, (seasonal), from Hershey PA.
I am also a fan of Burning River along with Great Lakes Brewing Company. Arcadia has a solid line up that does not get alot of love on this site. Take care.
Wow, lots of SN knockoffs and ipa wannabe's mentioned - typical of all the copycat craftbrewers out there today. Most unique pale ale made in the US today is Widmer Drifter imo - solid everytime I have bought it since its not as susceptible to oxidation as quickly as many of the SN kockoff's are.
It's too bad you can't get Long Trail Pale Ale in your area. That beer is a excellent. Not aggressive, nice and smooth, easy drinking.
If you have a chance to get up to Chicago or can do a trade I highly recommend Half Acre Daisy Cutter, you won't be disappointed.
I don't know if they distro to where you are but if you can get your hands on some of this, I highly recommend it.
Founders All Day IPA, while listed as an IPA, is less than 5% abv and not overly bitter and is delicious.
Does anyone know of a Pale Ale, which is relatively easy to find, other than Zombie Dust (which is not easy for us West Coasters) that uses only Citra?
Maine beer company peeper or mo are the best I've had.sierra set the standard.alot of the other ones mentioned i feel are too hoppy and are basically ipa more than a pale ale.i never have had any 3 Floyd's but everyone acts like they are the holy grail.anyone wanna trade?.....please?
I think Daisy Cutter may be too hoppy. It is good and I've had that beer more than any others. He asked for subtle hopped pales. Best I would recommend off the top of my head are Burning River, Red Chair NWPA, SN Pale Ale, and Pride&Joy(may be hard to find and pointless to mention). I'll keep a look out for the pale ales others had suggested.
Deschutes Red Chair Firestone Pale 31 Drakes 1500 (though this has a bigger hop profile) Anderson Valley Paleeko pale
