Boulevard Brewing Company Pale Ale

**Aroma:** “A slight sourdough bread note up front, with mild floral, herbal, and spicy hops character underneath. Malt is reminiscent of graham crackers, toasted, with Bit-o-Honey candy sweet notes.” **Flavor:** “This beer definitely leans more toward the malt than the hops. Interesting malt notes— bread crust, graham cracker, and some biscuit. A little thin for style. Hops flavors of citrus and orange are almost absent with just enough bitterness to provide some balance. Tart notes in the mid-palate, plus an interesting mineral note that provides a bit of needed complexity. Crisp and carbonic with a dry finish.” **Overall:** “Enjoyable, although the malt needs definition to shine through. Hops character plays a supporting role—this is more of an English bitter or even a slightly more flavorful mild than an EPA. Good balance of malt sweetness and hops character that did not seem to get in the way of each other. Excellent example of an EPA—very enjoyable with an appropriate level of bitterness.”

“Light citrus hop aroma, pear and plum esters. Pale malt is lightly sweet and supportive. Hop bitterness is fresh, piney. This beer has found its balance among malt, ester, and hops.”

**Aroma:** “Surprisingly malty nose with light caramel and toastiness. Mild paper oxidation. Faint hops aroma is earthy, like damp soil, but hard to find. Cloves, orange peel, toast, yeast, and hints of black pepper..” **Flavor:** “More hops in the flavor, offering an herbal blend of mint and marjoram, but the malt is far more forward— grainy with some toasty notes. Papery oxidation here, too, and mild bitterness. Hops flavor seems muddled and indistinct. Instead, I get a more saison-like quality with yeast esters and phenols. Cloves and even a bit of cracked black pepper, then a dry, bitter nish.” **Overall:** “Is this a session saison? The yeasty aromatics and avors seem more at home in a Biere de Table than in an American session IPA. I actually quite like this beer, but it works better as a generic Belgian-style table beer. Tartness when I swallow lingers on the back of the tongue. Very dry finish.”