Looks:
Smell:
Taste:
Overall:
Description:
Ten Hills traces its story to Elk Mountain Farms in Idaho, famous for growing hops of exceptional quality and character. With hops from the "first ten hills" grown for Goose Island at Elk Mountain, we crafted a pale ale that delivers both a herbal and citrus hop character. We hope you'll find the intriguing balance of flavors in this beer to be truly unparalleled. (Description provided by company)
Brewer:
Beer Style:
ABV:
6.20% ABV
Availability Frequency:
Winter
Containers Available:
bottle
draft
Locations Where Available:
nationwide
Store/Serve Temperature:
45-54 degrees F
Comments
Not what I expected...
Ten Hills APA pours a very attractive clear amber with about 2 fingers of a foamy head. Dark for a pale ale, but very nice looking. Fairly strong head retention. Lacing is pretty non-existent.
Nose is a (surprising) balance of hops and malt. Caramel malt gives a slightly sweet aroma and the pine and citrus hops balance nicely.
Taste is hop focused, but shy of the overly bitter or out-of-balance flavors found in a lot of APAs. The malt is present, but lets the citrus flavors from the hops take precedence. Hop flavors are strong with bitterness moderate, but a nice long aftertaste does let it stick around a bit.
Moderate body and carbonation.
This beer has a fairly balanced nose, and the taste (although still hop focused) is closer to balanced than most American pale ales. A nice and sessionable APA, for sure.