SixTwelve Brewing Beanstalk Pale Ale

Beanstalk is SixTwelve's take on an American pale ale, a beer you might call a Jack of all trades (I'll get me coat...). In the glass, it looks more akin to an XPA than the darker-hued APAs of yore that helped build the craft beer industry. While that suggests they've presumably used rather less sweetening specialty malts than the US originals, it still has a weightier profile than an XPA on the nose: there’s honey and light caramel underpinning the piney hops on the nose. The beer's sweeter side ensures the tropi-citrus elements come across ripe and acts to wrap the bitterness in a coat of softening maltiness.

James Smith