Speakeasy Untouchable Pale Ale - My Microbrew Review Blog Review

Speakeasy Ales & Lagers is a California-based microbrewery which proudly calls San Francisco its home of beer brewing operations. Tonight I grabbed a bottle of Speakeasy's Untouchable Pale Ale out of the cooler at my local mix a six craft beer and microbrew outlet. I'd have to admit that the bottle imagery of a screen printed 1930's mobster-type character with a sneaky looking pair of eyes painted on the bottle neck caught my eye the most out of the many bottles in the cooler to select from.

The text on the back of the bottle reads:

"Sssshh! During Prohibition, the masses were forced underground into the speakeasy. Hidden within the streets of the city, friends gathered where music played and drinks were poured... Untouchable does justice to the American Pale Ale, enforcing a strict balance of arresting hop flavor and a smooth maltiness that's just undercover."

Well, we'll see how it stands up to the promise.

Pouring the chilled brown bottle of micro brew into my 10 ounce glass beer mug, this American Pale Ale displays a rusty nail orangey color. It was very cloudy and high in floating yeast particulate. It wasn't the prettiest of beers to look at in my mug, but the respectable white and pillowy 3/4 inch head was admirable and stuck around quite a bit longer than I had guessed that it might.

Upon placing my nose up to the glass rim, I find that my olfactory senses are greeted with a musty floral scent, slightly oily and earthy all at once. Mild hints of lemon waft in the far distant background and pine makes a non-obtrusive appearance in this craft beer aroma.

Partaking of the first few sips of this chilled pale ale, the beer's mouthful was smooth and full. A respectable hoppy bitterness was present with lesser twinges of malty sweetness further in the background, but just enough to make the beer interesting and balanced overall. I sensed a grassy earthiness to Untouchable Pale Ale. Carbonation in the mouthful was fair and became more visually evident as the liquid cleared somewhat by mid glass. The swallow finished primarily clean with just a hint of citrus bitterness left mid-tongue.

Finishing off the full 12 ounce bottle, I'm left with wanting to try one more bottle of this craft beer. I got the feeling that I just might like this ale a little bit more upon a second sampling. At 5.5% alcohol by volume, I probably could have stood another bottle or two of Speakeasy Pale Ale. But I'd only picked up one tonight and will probably find myself moving on to other microbrews tomorrow.

I might try this beer again in the future. But overall, I didn't find any one particular feature that I could point to in making it one of the better American Pale Ales that I've sampled over time. It's worth a shot though and especially if you're just starting into the world of microbrews but just aren't quite ready for the further extremes of an IPA or the stronger imperial strength beers. Matching this beer up to it's perfect situational serving setting, I'd say this would be a great beer on ice, bottles piles high in a bushel barrel while sitting around a cozy beach fire with friends on a chilly summer's evening. I recommend giving Speakeasy Untouchable American Pale Ale a try sometime in your microbrew sampling endeavors.

If you found any enjoyment in reading this microbrew beer review and if you love craft beers in particular, you'll find more craft beer reviews of both new and old microbrews and also fun microbrew and craft beer-related info at Microbrew Review or Microbrew and Craft Beer Reviews. Click through on the links above and please let me know what you liked or didn't like and let me know any beers that you might like to see me review next time. Cheers!

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Speakeasy Untouchable American Pale Ale