The review scores in every issue of _Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine® _are a result of blind tasting by our independent panel (staff do not participate in the scoring of the beers). But our editorial team tastes the same beers, and we have our own opinions of the brews. Here are some of our editors’ favorite pale ales and imperial ales.
Pale Ales
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
At the brewers’ after-party at the Shelton Brothers Festival last October, we watched a room full of some of the most celebrated brewers in the world clean the bar out of the venerable Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It may not be the sexiest pale, but it was one of the very first to celebrate U.S. hops varieties, and Sierra Nevada’s focus on consistency and quality has earned them respect from the best of their peers. It’s the standard by which all others are judged.
New Holland Paleooza
While the review panel searched for bolder notes in New Holland’s Paleooza, the editorial team enjoyed the subtle berry notes from the Michigan-grown Cascade hops. It hints at the unique juicy fruit flavors of 3 Floyds’ Yum Yum, but with a subtle malt profile that’s more comforting than crisp.
Southern Tier Live
Bottle-conditioned and bright, Southern Tier Live became a favorite in the _Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine® _office fridge as we put the Pale Ale issue together. With a perfect balance of crisp malt and well-defined contemporary citrus hops profile, Live never feels like it’s trying too hard—the elements play well together, and the dry finish sets up each new sip.
Samuel Smith Organic Pale Ale
We cut our teeth on bottles of Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout in the mid-90s when it was one of the few widely available, but recent experiences with the brand left us wishing they would take a few more steps to appeal to modern taste buds. Organic Pale Ale took us by surprise with strong fruit flavors driven by yeast esters working together with the hops. In contrast to many beers in the style, it’s a great winter-season pale ale.
3 Floyds Yum Yum Pale Ale
There’s that moment when you crack open a beer you’ve never had before, and the flavors hit you in a rush that’s a mix of excitement, confusion, and wonderment. So it is with Yum Yum, where 3 Floyds has extended its mastery of aroma and flavor hops deeper into the pale ale territory with this beer that evokes strawberries, melon, and the most wild fruit character we’ve enjoyed since that last bottle of Fantôme.
Lagunitas Born Yesterday Pale Ale
This bottle from Lagunitas arrived after our review panels for the Pale Ale issue wrapped up, but that didn’t stop the team from enjoying the exquisite fresh hops profile showcased by Born Yesterday. At 7.5 percent ABV, it’s at the very top of what could be considered an imperial pale ale, but the very light body and balanced bitterness let the aroma and flavors hops push forward.
Imperial Pale Ales
Hill Farmstead Brewery Abner Double Pale Ale
After reading Jeff Baker of the The Farmhouse Grill’s writing in the Burlington Free Press on the need for a “Vermont-style IPA,” we’re on board for a language around pales that expands beyond the overly reductive “East Coast is malty, West Coast is hoppy” binary. Abner is a strong argument for that broader lexicon, taking the soft mouthfeel, radiant citrus notes, and hazy golden body of Vermont DIPAs, yet eschewing the need for IPA classification.
Half Acre Brewing Double Daisy Cutter Pale Ale
This “imperial” version of Half Acre’s Daisy Cutter pale ale retains the grapefruit-like citrus notes of its namesake with a beefed up malt backbone and a more accessible bitterness level compared to the hops bombs in the (admittedly almost overlapping) double IPA category.