Fish Brewing Company FishTale Ales Beyond The Pale Pale Ale

The other day I was in a Borders Books and bought a few magazines and one of them was volume one of the 2015 World Beer Awards. This magazine has all the winners in every category and their respected countries, great magazine. But this is not a review of that magazine, no, it’s a review of the worlds best beer 2015, Fish Brewing Company FishTale Ales Beyond The Pale, Pale Ale, 5.0% ABV. This is from Olympia Washington. So I had to try it. Beyond The Pale pours a deep orange color with t foamy two and a half finger white head that dissipates at a nice pace while leaving behind some average lacing. The beer is not to clear so some light is coming through. The aroma is a bit earthy and citrusy with grapefruit and faint hints of orange.  Now the taste is nice with grapefruit bitterness and a few hoppy earth notes and towards the middle and back of the tongue, it is slightly malty. The bitterness becomes stronger as the beer warms a bit but nothing too bitter or overwhelming. The mouthfeel is medium with a nice bitter finish and a good malt bitter aftertaste with a slight lingering of bitter citrus fruit. I see this beer trying to be a more than a pale ale without stepping into IPA territory which some pale ales tend to do and for me, that is not what they should do. IPA’s should be IPA’s; Pale ales should be Pale Ales. Beyond The Pale Takes the pale ale style and adds some IPA qualities to it without it tasting like or being an IPA. With the huge popularity of IPA, I see why some brewers what to make a pale ale as close to an IPA. That’s cool, just don’t make an IPA with bigger malted flavors and say here is our pale ale. Fish Brewing FishTale Ales Beyond The Pale is an A. I enjoyed it and would have it again. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!