Central City Brewers + Distillers / Yukon Brewing Across the Nation Collaboration: Northern Nectar American Pale Ale at 5.4% ABV | 27 IBU (C$2.47 at NLC Stavanger, 355 ml, packaged on 6-Apr-2018, acquired 13-Jul-2018, reviewed 14-Jul-2018)
Appearance: clear pale amber with one finger of loose off-white head diminishing rapidly to a thin ring, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: honey, bready malt, herbal, grass. (6/10) Taste: moderate sweet, mild bitter, light astringent. (6/10) Palate: medium body, moderate-low carbonation, off-dry mild bitter astringent finish. (3/5)
Fairly disappointing, considering I generally quite like Central’s IPAs – though, truth be told, once you get outside that core competency, things tend to fall off a cliff. I guess factoring in my less-than-impressed history with Yukon, overall it makes sense that this would fail to wow me. I guess this is sort of what it claims on the label, with honey leading the way, but overall it’s just not very interesting, with a weedy, grassy edge that ends up being almost astringent, rather than bitter. It’s not terrible, but if anything I’m being generous with this score, which could be half a point or more lower on the overall. (12/20)
6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
