Franklins Twisted Turtle Pale Ale

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

I had a fair shake at tasting almost all of the standard (and not so standard) offerings from this cool little brewpub, but this one stood out in my mind as one of the cleanest and most appealing of the lot. I guess it's a local favorite too, since the place's t-shirts feature the laid-back turtle enjoying a nice pintful of this beer, in a rather amusing manner....!

But enough about the t-shirt and chit-chat -- onto the good stuff. This was my second pint of the evening, so my taste buds were still in relatively fine form still.

Came to me a litltle on the tepid side of things, as far as what the beer looked like in the shaker pint glass. Not neccesarily a fault with the beer itself per se, but did seem a little lack-luster to look at.

But whatever malaise the beer's appearence had going on was soon vanquished with the aroma and flavor profiles. The place's website talks about the Magnum hopping, which is a hop that tends to hide in the background for the most part. But the websiite also mentions Goldings, which I've always been a big fan of (esp. after a vacation to Cornwall last year, where they worship the heavy use of Goldings in the front, middle, and finish of the beer).

Nice balance of hops-to-malt with this one -- not cloying and heavy, despite the bigger-than-average-APA strength of 6.5%ABV. Not at all "sessionable" mind you, but for a beer or two in your session, it's a nice go-to beer.

After this pint, I moved onto other beers on the menu, in order to get a true feel for what the placew had to offer. But looking back, this was the one that took the cake, in my mind. So why did I get a growler of the Anarchy Ale and not this? Only in that I wanted a beer to warm me up some (um, a lot?) back in my hotel room in Herndon VA. But even still, if I were forced to give the "Best In Show" award to one of the beers that evening, I'd be hard pressed not to give it to "The Turtle" (as the regulars call it). Fine stuff.
//TB

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Malty flavor with some citrus notes. Definately a great pale ale. Lot's of character to this one, but it kind of grates on the palate. Hmmm...imbibe more and it definately numbs the senses.