Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale

Well, this is something of a nice surprise. I can clearly see how this won a Silver at the GABF. And although I would never normally think of Cleveland as being anything of a hop-head mecca, this particular beer does deliver the goods in fine fashion.

Deep amber-ish body, with a microscopically thin layer of foam on top. Uniform Belgian lace. And an aroma that says more than a few nice things about things to come. This obviously aint Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but not some vile Cluster hopped midwestern ale, either.

First sip brings forth a ovrally drying mouthfeel, that seems to be rather common in many Mid-Western ales (over-attenuating yeast, perhaps?). But once things get going, this improves immensely. Notes of rock-solid malt, with enough hops to not only balance things out, but to make sure that no one confuses this with some sort of wishy-washy "amber" ale. "This beer is well hopped, thank you very much!" this exclaims.

Not something that I really expected to blow my socks off, but something I did expect to be enjoyable and quafable. And within those guidlines, this beer does not disappoint one iota.

Cheers to cretemixer for including this amongst an excellent set of samples...!
//TB