Natural Selections 6 Pack--Steamworks Pale Ale

To my mind, Steamworks Pale Ale was the class of the Natural Selections 6 pack. It comes from the Steamworks Brewing Co. out of Vancouver, British Columbia. It was housed in busy, but pretty awesome steam punk-style 355mL bottles, contained 5.2% alcohol, and 35 IBUs.

Steamworks was a stylish, clear, reddish-gold ale topped with a nearly white head, and displaying a decent degree of carbonation. Its aroma combined malt and bitterness, with a slight raisin note. I was surprised to see that this stuff was listed just at 35 IBUs, since it tasted much hoppier than that. It had a pretty dank, resinous bitterness. Underneath that, there was a faint squirt of fruitcakiness, with notes of raisin and fig. The finish was Leviathan-esque--dry, bitter, and short.

For some reason, I was expecting this pale ale from the West Coast to be a West Coast pale ale, but it didn't really have the citrus character. I found it to be both warmer and more subterranean than the typical West Coaster. Sure tasted pretty good to me.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.