Welcome to the inaugural Beer Tastings, a weekly series in which Utah Beer News highlights a particularly tasty local brew. What are you drinking? Let us know!
Beer Tastings: Pale #8
A. Fisher Brewing Company — Fisher Brewing — regularly mixes up its pale ale offerings. I call it the number series (they probably do, too). The brewers take their standard pale and alter certain components to create a new brew. We’re now on Pale #8 and this one features Centennial and Simcoe hops.
- Brewery: A. Fisher Brewing Company
- ABV: 4%
- Serving Style: Draft
- Date Tasted: April 4, 2018
- Taste Location: A. Fisher Brewing Company
The Fisher Story
Fisher Brewing is one of Salt Lake City’s newest hotspots for craft-beer lovers. It’s also one of its oldest. The original A. Fisher Brewing Company served its first beer in 1884. It became one of the region’s largest breweries before kicking its last keg in 1960.
Fast-forward nearly 60 years. In February 2017, Tom Riemondy, the great-great-grandson of founder Albert Fisher, and three partners re-opened the brewery. It’s currently one of my favorite spots in Utah to sip an imperial pint.
While its Rye Cream Ale is perhaps my favorite Fisher offering, I’m also a big fan of their chronologically numbered pale ale series.
Pale #8 - Fisher Brewing
Product Name: Pale #8
Product Description: Pale #8 is the latest in Fisher Brewing's line of innovative pale ales. The eighth in the series pours a rich, cloudy orange with a marshmallow-white head. It features Centennial and Simcoe hops, which impart a nice combination of woodsy and citrus-y aromas and flavors. A distinct lingering bitterness gives this pale a delicious bite.
- Aroma
- Appearance
- Flavor
- Mouthfeel
Overall Impression
Very drinkable. Fisher is dialing in its pale ales. When you start with something tasty and mix up the hops or malt, you’re likely to end up with something tasty (but different). The earthy characteristics and late bitterness are nice diversions from previous iterations that tended to be more floral.
- Aroma: Pleasant citrus; some orange and grapefruit; slight woodiness/earthiness
- Appearance: Rich orange hue; marshmallow-white head lingers; slightly cloudy; medium-high carbonation
- Flavor: Woodsy, citrus (orange); bitterness toward the back; nice bite at the end
- Mouthfeel: Medium bodied; sparkly and effervescent; smooths as it warms in your mouth
But you don’t have to take my word for it.
Note: The tasting notes format is adapted from a Homebrew Academy Beer Tasting Mastery course I took in 2017.
