6.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Draught at Buk’s Cambridge, 7/8/16.
Quite dark, is this an English-style pale ale? We’re talkin’ dark amber with some deep copper-golden highlights. High clarity and a beige head atop is small and shows modest retention.
Honey, caramel, lime, pine, orange rind and iced tea in the nose shows a pretty straightforward East Coast IPA-style grain and hop bill, it seems. Thankfully, it’s not too heavy on the crystal malt apparency, with only a touch of iced tea and no big toastiness or intense caramel. The hops are a little lackluster; certainly nothing innovative, but at least they’re not overly resinous. More orange rind, black pepper, earth and dried herbs linger with no alcohol or flaw.
Tons of orange, caramel, honey, biscuit and light graininess in the flavor adding up to a medium-full bodied take on the style with straightforward, moderately bitter C-hopping complemented by light floral and peppery hop notes. Malts distract somewhat, adding lots of grain, caramel, and light iced tea. A fair bit of softness at times and an engaging carbonation really help keep it drinkable.