Mandarina Pale Ale – Homebrew Dual Review

The moment of truth. We finally cracked open a bottle and tried our homebrewed beer for the first time. The instant reaction… “Hey, this doesn’t suck,” which is a small victory. The first beer was tried among friends, the type of people who will share their true feelings and the feedback was positive. It was exciting and fulfilling but most of all it was a learning experience. Since Meg and I brewed it together and will brew again we decided to do another joint review, this time on our own beer.

Visual:

Alysia: Burnt gold, cloudy with little to no head.

Meg: Reddish brown and cloudy with very little head.

Aroma:

Alysia: Faint to medium strength hop scent followed by citrus which is more so lingering in the background. Both aromas were mild and required a bit of effort to distinguish.

Meg: Very mild, it barely had any scent. There was a hint of hops and citrus, but it was not very distinctive.

Taste:

Alysia: I immediately noticed that there was very little carbonation. The first thing to hit my tongue was the hops, followed by the mandarin citrus. It finishes with a bitter note but not in a great way. It certainly fits the style profile but is an example of a beer with a long way to go, which let’s be honest is not unexpected.

Meg: Upon the first sip I was pleasantly surprised at how much better it was than I was expecting. To be honest, I didn’t think it would be too flavorful. The beer was bland, with very little carbonation, however it did have a slight hoppy taste followed by a bitter citrus finish. All in all, for a first brew I was happy with it.

ABV: 5.25%

Over All Beer Rating – Alysia:      5 spades out of 10

Over All Beer Rating – Meg:     5 spades out of 10