Lancaster Amish Four Grain Pale Ale
I normally try not to post sequential reviews with beers from the same brewery, but I just couldn’t get around it on this one. The Amish Four Grain Pale Ale was enjoyed on the same evening as the Gold Star Pilsner, so it only seemed appropriate that it be the next beer up for review.
I’m always up for trying new beers, and saw this offering from Lancaster to fit snuggly in my realm of tastes. However, being the uniquely flavored pale ale that it is, I found it hard to enjoy. Part of me wanted to really like it, but another part kept rudely interrupting.
Appearance
The beer pours a hazy amber with a beautiful half inch head that faded to a clinging lace on the glass. It looks tasty — I will give it that.
Aroma
This one smells very earthy. There’s a subtle malt and a slight spice to it, but the one picture that repeatedly came to mind was that of an old barn with drying hay in the rafters. The combination of the grainy malt and spice are pleasant on the nose.
Taste
I was actually a bit hesitant on tasting this one after smelling it. I think it was more due to the mental picture of the barn than anything else.
The beer tastes nutty and grainy with a slight pine and hop finish. It’s not the best tasting beer I’ve ever had and I’m sure that the graininess of it is more an acquired taste, but the earthiness of it just sort of struck me as odd. I kept feeling like I was drinking a glass full of hay — not in terms of mouthfeel as it had an enjoyable medium body to it, but just that it smelled and tasted as I would imagine hay to taste.
Overall
This one filled me with mixed emotions. I wanted to like it, but it was just too grainy for my own palette.
Rating: 2.5/5