XPA
High & Mighty Beer Co in Holyoke, Massachusetts, United States 🇺🇸
Brewed at/by: Paper City BreweryPale Ale - American Style / APA Regular Out of Production
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Score
6.59
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XPA (Extra Pale Ale) is an American classic. A hoppy session ale . . . relatively light and low in alcohol but packed with flavor. Old World English malts are paired with new American hop varieties, resulting in a superbly drinkable yet complex brew, ideal for evenings out at the pub or when entertaining at home. This beer has it all – enough hops to satisfy the most serious hophead, but enough malt to achieve a perfect balance. This American Pale Ale is unfiltered and unpasteurized.
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6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Thin white head. Hazy yellow body. Malty straw aroma with floral resiny notes. Light sweetness. Dry grainy malty resiny hop taste. Clean mouthfeel. Dry resiny papery aftertaste with straw notes. Nice session beer. (0.355l bottle at RBNAG’07.)
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Nov 2007
at 11:59
6.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6
12 fl. oz bottle, thanks to BA richgo6. Hazy golden colour, decent and lasting head. Hoppy aroma, notes of marmelade too, hints of yeast. Spritzy mouthfeel. Spicy flavour with some less pleasant hints of stale marmelade, hoppy bitter finish and aftertaste. Not great, not bad, quite interesting.
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Sep 2007
at 17:28
7.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bouteille 341ml, courtoisie de Hogtownharry. De couleur jaune foncé et semi-voilée. Nez de levures fruitées sucrées (moyen d’abricots et d’agrumes, notes de poires et d’ananas), de houblon floral aux notes herbeuses (herbes fraîches) et citriques (quelques traces résineuses), ainsi que malté de caramel très doux avec des notes biscuits de miel et de céréales. Moyennement ronde en bouche avec un pétillement moyen et une texture moyennement crémeuse et aux petites notes huileuses. Goût de levures fruitées (abricots, moyen d’agrumes, notes de poires et de mangues) accompagné d’un goût moyennement amer de houblon floral, légèrement citrique (pamplemousse) et herbeux (qui est présent toute la gorgée) lors de l’entrée en bouche auquel se rajoute un goût malté de céréales (notes de blé et de malt pâle), léger de caramel très doux et de biscuits au miel et avec des notes de pain puis en finale l’on assiste à un léger regain d’amertume de houblon plus herbeux (herbes fraîches), plus asséchant et avec de très faibles notes résineuses. Post-goût moyen et un peu sec, moyennement amer de houblon herbeux, floral et légèrement citrique avec un goût fruité (zest d’agrumes).
Tried
on 26 Jul 2007
at 22:55
8.1/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Have had this in bottles many times, most recently I bought a six pack in mid-December.
And, this one’s my 400th rating from a Massachusetts brewer.
I think this is a fitting beer for that rating, as this is definitely a very forward-thinking beer.
First, it embodies the true craft, being unpasteurized and unfiltered. So right there you’ve got the basics down. (I might add it’s dryness as another trait of true craft, but that’s just opinion)
But second, and more importantly, I think this ahead of its time in its simplicity and moderate alcohol content while still preserving tons of flavor and aroma. I would like to think, and definitely hope, that craft brewing will regain some ground in the mid gravity sector and this is a great start and fitting that the Will Shelton, who sponsors another wonderful mid-gravity brewer, Cantillon, makes this.
Big beers certainly have their place, but to me, it just looks like they are taking up 95% or more of brewers’ interests these days. For sure, brewers are still making all kinds of low and mid grav beers, but most don’t spend the time on them that they do on the big ones, and that is the key problem.
Anyways, tying this back to Massachusetts, and even New England in general, it seems this has always been a great area for low to mid gravity beer. We just need more bottling brewers. Will at Cambridge is doing many many wonderful mid gravity beers but none of them get bottled and thus none of the exposure. I really think that all it takes is one outstanding bottling brewer to spark an outbreak of bottled, excellent craft beer. Massachusetts sorely needs it. Hopefully Will puts some more beers out with this line (though it’s too bad Paper City is the only logical place to brew them at).
Earlier Rating: 11/13/2004 Total Score: 1.7
2003 bottle. Looks like, smells like and tastes like the most pale malt you’ve ever had with old, bready, moldy hops. Watery, lightly bubbly and yellow. Papery, apple cider is this? seriously, you wonder what they were thinking, what an AWFUL beer. poor ingredients. The only thing I can say is that it has somewhat more body than budweiser. Ale yeast should not be used for things like this. Please stop making this. . . . .
And, this one’s my 400th rating from a Massachusetts brewer.
I think this is a fitting beer for that rating, as this is definitely a very forward-thinking beer.
First, it embodies the true craft, being unpasteurized and unfiltered. So right there you’ve got the basics down. (I might add it’s dryness as another trait of true craft, but that’s just opinion)
But second, and more importantly, I think this ahead of its time in its simplicity and moderate alcohol content while still preserving tons of flavor and aroma. I would like to think, and definitely hope, that craft brewing will regain some ground in the mid gravity sector and this is a great start and fitting that the Will Shelton, who sponsors another wonderful mid-gravity brewer, Cantillon, makes this.
Big beers certainly have their place, but to me, it just looks like they are taking up 95% or more of brewers’ interests these days. For sure, brewers are still making all kinds of low and mid grav beers, but most don’t spend the time on them that they do on the big ones, and that is the key problem.
Anyways, tying this back to Massachusetts, and even New England in general, it seems this has always been a great area for low to mid gravity beer. We just need more bottling brewers. Will at Cambridge is doing many many wonderful mid gravity beers but none of them get bottled and thus none of the exposure. I really think that all it takes is one outstanding bottling brewer to spark an outbreak of bottled, excellent craft beer. Massachusetts sorely needs it. Hopefully Will puts some more beers out with this line (though it’s too bad Paper City is the only logical place to brew them at).
Earlier Rating: 11/13/2004 Total Score: 1.7
2003 bottle. Looks like, smells like and tastes like the most pale malt you’ve ever had with old, bready, moldy hops. Watery, lightly bubbly and yellow. Papery, apple cider is this? seriously, you wonder what they were thinking, what an AWFUL beer. poor ingredients. The only thing I can say is that it has somewhat more body than budweiser. Ale yeast should not be used for things like this. Please stop making this. . . . .
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Feb 2007
at 16:35