Honest Ale
Craftsman Brewing Co.

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From:
Craftsman Brewing Co.
 
California, United States
Style:
American Pale Ale
ABV:
5%
Score:
84
Avg:
3.58 | pDev: 6.7%
Reviews:
9
Ratings:
11
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Aug 10, 2014
Added:
Jan 15, 2007
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
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Rated: 3.5 by zestar from California

Aug 10, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by t0rin0 from California

Nov 16, 2012
Photo of RidiculedDisplay
Reviewed by RidiculedDisplay from California

3.85/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
On-tap at Beachwood BBQ. From notes:

Appearance: Good craggy, spotty lace that lasts for some time. A whisper of a head on top. Body is a pink grapefruit color with some ruby, fairly pretty, and appropriate considering this beer is supposedly brewed by Craftsman for Valentine's Day.

Smell: Some barnyard with cherries predominate the aroma. The cherry aroma is more like Cherry Sucrets than fruit.

Taste: Apple juice, very subtle cherry, with a slight amount of sour. The sourness is here, but for a kriek-style lambic, it's very mild. White grape vinousity at the back end. Sort of a "weakness" to the overall flavor profile, not too much strength or assertiveness.

Mouthfeel: Fizzy carbonation, otherwise thin, a bit too thin.

Drinkability: Extremely drinkable for a sour ale.
Feb 22, 2009
Photo of Halcyondays
Reviewed by Halcyondays from California

3.48/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
On-tap at Beachwood BBQ,

A: Pours red/light burgundy with a cap of white foam leaving good, thick lacing in a tulip.

S: Cherries, strawberries, lactic acid.

T: This is definitely not a Pale Ale. Reading through the other reviews it looks like the consensus is a cherry beer, which makes a lot more sense. Real cherry flavour is there, not sweet at all, more like a dry kriek. Really tastes like a cherry lambic. Brett character seems evident as there is a bone-dry earthy funk mixed with the strong lactic and citric acid note underlying the whole beer.

M: As I said in the taste paragraph, bone-dry, moderate acidic overall but puckering at times. Relatively smooth, no hint of ethanol.

D: A good fruit beer from Craftsman, just didn't have the complexities I enjoy in this kind of style, it didn't greatly hold my interest over the whole glass. Certainly no problem finishing the beer, though. A weird brew, worth a purchase.
Feb 16, 2009
Photo of Boilermaker88
Reviewed by Boilermaker88 from California

3.4/5  rDev -5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
Served on-tap at Lucky Baldwin's Delirium Cafe, Sierra Madre. $6 for a 12oz "pint".
Had a ruby red coloring topped by a foamy, durable off-white head that left thick rings of lace on the glass.
Strong fruity aroma dominates with some token doughy malts. A tart, nose-grabbing lambic-esque quality, also.
Wow, funky taste. Kind of quasi-lambic in its light body and tart fruity nature. Things end rather abruptly mid-palate with virtually no hops presence. Hints of wild yeasts and bready malt lend to the slightly sour flavor.
Overall, this brew got tougher to quaff as I went along. By the time I got to the last couple pulls I realized I wouldn't want another. Not to sure what to make of this effort, I remarked to the bartender, "this tastes like it wants to be a lambic when it grows up." Lambic or APA; either way, I'll stick with some other Craftsman offerings in the future.
May 14, 2008
Photo of dill
Reviewed by dill from California

3.74/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
on draught in a snifter
a - pours light copper with a white head.
s - smells of cherries with a hint of sweetness.
t - tart flavor but not overly so. has a nice bit of hops to it as well.
m - light body with high carbonation in the mouth.
d - I would probably have preferred more tartness or less carbonation, but this was a nice beer to drink.
Mar 18, 2008
Photo of Westsidethreat
Reviewed by Westsidethreat from California

3.83/5  rDev +7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
A: Bright copper color with a stillness to it. Head is medium sized, light beige with a green tint to it.

S: Strawberry juice, old cherries, grape jelly and doughy caramel.

T: Starts off with rounded cherry juice and grapefruit rind. Tangy mango and cantaloupe add additional flavors. Surprisingly bitter, fruity and aggressive. Finishes with cherry slurpy flavor with lingering bitterness.

M: Medium body with a lot of carbo sting.

D: Mildly sour, light and not cloying. Actually refreshing and somewhat unique.
Dec 06, 2007
Photo of Gueuzedude
Reviewed by Gueuzedude from Arizona

3.6/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Sampled on tap at Lucky Baldwin's, June 2007
This beer has a thin, quarter finger thick, tan head that quickly dissipates. It is a nice, clear, reddish amber color. There is quite the fruity, sweet aromas of cherries coming off this beer; fleshy cherry notes with some sharper cherry skin character around the edges are definitely noticeable. The aroma is even a touch wine-like in character, though this is a light effect. The aroma has a really nicely balanced cherry character to it, meaning I like how the fleshy notes mix with the skin character and maybe even a touch of pit too.

A cherry flavored tartness with perhaps a memory of some sweetness greets my taste buds as the beer hits them for the first time. Fleshy cherry flavors with a touch of tannic character in the finish. The tannic notes add some astringency and balance. This has a nice tartness to it and I almost wonder if it is not completely from the cherries; it is a light tartness though, at least compared to a traditional sour beer. I think that the amount of cherries used could be upped here, easily doubled even.
Jun 14, 2007
Photo of MiScusi
Reviewed by MiScusi from California

3.01/5  rDev -15.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
On tap at the Lucky Baldwin's Craftsman Fest.

When I ordered this I thought it was a Pale Ale, but after much head scratching and further research I realized it is a cherry fruit beer. Ok, that explains it.

The beer comes as a clear purple/maroon color, head doesn't stick around too long. The taste was sour berries. I didn't know at the time it was cherries and I couldn't specifically pick out cherries. The mouthfeel was a little lacking in this case, I felt a bit more carbonation would have made the whole berry presence a bit better. I do like fruit beers but this one wasn't as tasty as most I've had.
Jun 10, 2007
Photo of Dukeofearl
Reviewed by Dukeofearl from California

3.53/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
On Tap at Stone World Bistro in Escondido, CA. in late March 2007. Being a Craftsman fan, but with little chance to enjoy it, I was not familiar with this one. I asked the server what the style was, and she told me a Strong Ale. I said, sure bring it along.

Clear, light amber, no head to speak of. Strong ale?

Fruity aroma, berries and lemon oil. Strong ale?

I started to wonder if there wasn't something wrong with the Lemon Pledge in their dishwasher (yes, it was that strong). Once I realized the style was wrong, I gave up preconceived notions and tried to enjoy it for what it was, rather than what I thought it was supposed to be. A moderately light, berry and citrusy beer. I wondered even if it wasn't a lager rather than ale. But tasty enough. Except the citric acid was a little too much. Especially since I now know it's made with cherry. I tasted raspberries and lemons, not cherries.

Decent enough, but not something I am interested in returning to.
Mar 26, 2007
Photo of SacoDeToro
Reviewed by SacoDeToro from California

3.92/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
On tap at the Stone 10th Anniversary Festival.

First note: This is a cherry fruit beer, but since BA is eliminating the fruit beer category, this is the next closest one.

The beer poured a murky light amber color with a small white head.

The aroma was of light biscuity malts and tart cherries. No hops in the aroma.

The flavor of the beer was lightly malty with light floral hop bitterness. The tart cherries had a nice prominence that reminded me of Sam Adams Cherry Wheat when it was still brewed with real cherries and was seasonal.

The beer was very light and the mouthfeel was a little thin. A little more weight and creaminess would've helped.

The carbonation seemed fine.

This was a pretty decent fruit beer, but fell a little short in overall fullness.
Jan 15, 2007
Honest Ale from Craftsman Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 84 out of 100 with 11 ratings