David Brockington's Tasting Notebook

Pike Place Traditional English Pale Ale

Initial Impressions:

This is the only beer that I took a complete set of notes on at the 1995 Oregon Brewers Festival. Pike Place has an agreeable habit of brewing special beers for festivals, and I believe this to be such a beer. I hope that it becomes a semi-regular at this excruciatingly small (~2000 barrels per year) brewery. While Pike Place has many talents, and is perhaps my favorite Washington State brewery, they are especially well regarded for their authentic cask-conditioning (see the article in the Nov/Dec 1993 issue of _Brewing Techniques_ by Cantwell, Allen, and Forhan on cask conditioning). The fact that their cask beers can only be obtained at two or three pubs in Seattle on a regular basis is a double-edged sword. While I have to go out of my way to savor a gentle pint of Pike Place Pale Ale, knowing that the pubs serving it have been carefully selected insures that the publicans are upholding their end of the responsibility in treating a cask beer with an appropriate degree of respect and attention. Ideally, the beer that I am reviewing today will be seen as a cask product at one of these pubs.

Unfortunately, my sample was forced to me under CO2 pressure, as the beers must be at a giant American festival such as the Oregon Brewers Festival. Americans simply do not have the depth of knowledge, yet, to pull off something even narrowly approaching the Great British Beer Festival. While smaller festivals see the occasional "cask conditioned" sample, especially when the brewer can either be serving the beer or hovering near the serving booth, such beers are often of dubious authenticity. Once again, time and education are needed in the American market before a broad-based understanding of Real Ale is achieved. (Such an understanding can only be damaged by marketing-based mistruths, too; I fear the day that Sam Adams announces their new bottled, filtered, and lagered Sam Adams Real Cask Ale.)

The sample that I was served was amber in color, crystal bright, with a lingering tan head.

Nose:

The aroma of this beer was a subtle, yet appropriate balance between malty notes (including basic malt and crystal notes) and mild floral hoppy aromas perhaps caused by the use of East Kent Golding hops imported from England.

Flavor:

Caramel malty notes flowed into a delicate floral hop flavor. Once again, I would speculate that imported hops were used. The finish is a lingering hop bitterness (perhaps too much?) with the chalky dry notes caused by an attempt at Burtonizing the notoriously empty Seattle water. I noted estery notes along with the hop flavor in later tastings.

Final Analysis:

A well-balanced, subtle Ale which was clearly crafted with excellence. This beer may not have any single in-your-face flavor explosion, but that makes it all the more enjoyable as the complexity of the balance becomes apparent. Every individual flavor note serves a vital purpose: the crystal, the hopping, the water, the fruity esters. My only minor concern with this beer is that the hop bitterness was perhaps a bit too strong for this delicate beer; this may be due to either an overuse of bittering hop or the use of an inappropriate hop type for the bitterness. (Pike Place has been known to blend in a little Cluster in the kettle).

Additionally, this beer cries out for cask conditioning. The benefits of making this beer as a Real Ale are numerous: the carbonation would be considerably lower allowing the complexity of subtle flavors to become more pronounced (and more appreciated), and the secondary fermentation in the cask would amplify the estery fruitiness of this beer. Finally, the serving at cellar temperatures and allowing oxygen into the cask would add a nice sophisticating note to this beer -- I would drive across town to sample it on successive days.

Rating: ****1/2

(5-star scale)

Next Up:

Saxer Liberator Doppelbock
Oasis Nileator Doppelbock
Star IPA
Wharf Rat Blackfriar Stout
Copyright 1995 by David Brockington, all rights reserved.
Seattle

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dbrock@u.washington.edu
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