Looks:
Smell:
Taste:
Overall:
Description:
Zen is balance, the clear morning air, feeling the flow. Zen is purpose and determination and detachment. Not bitter, but hoppy and bright. This Session Pale emanates hints of orange zest and lemongrass. Zen is doing the right thing right. (Description provided by company)
Brewer:
Beer Style:
ABV:
4.80% ABV
Availability Frequency:
year-round
Containers Available:
can
draft
Locations Where Available:
Indiana
Ohio
Store/Serve Temperature:
45-54 degrees F
Comments
A little aggressive, but in a good way!
Pours a golden amber with a full off-white head. The head is full of big bubbles and settles down to a full finger pretty quickly.
A bright, hoppy nose, with lots of citrus notes. Orange, grapefruit, and lemon.
The hop brightness continues into the flavor, with lots of those bright, citrus-like notes very strong on the front and slightly less strong in the aftertaste. A fairly subtle bready and crisp malt helps to tone down the bitterness a little, although it's still a fairly aggressive bitterness for a pale ale.. While Zen is advertised as a "session pale ale", you'd need to be a lover of IPAs and their hoppy flavors to enjoy 2 or more of these. A medium long aftertaste with more bright flavors rather than bitterness.
Despite my reservations about the session ability of this beer, it does have some good, hoppy IPA flavors and well controlled bitterness.