Orchard Street Golden Ale

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

An odd brewery, who's beers I only ever see being sold at Trader Joe's -- which in itself isn't a bad thing, but is sometimes a tip-off to something being fishy with the beer. Perhaps there's a reason why every other liquor store in town won't touch this stuff, eh? But no, I've had other beers from Orchard Street, and they were fairly tasty. This Golden Ale is no exception, even if the "style" is a bit weak-in-the-knees.

Pours decently enough, but where's the aroma? Even if this is a "training wheel" beer, some sort of aroma would be nice! But things look up from there.

Slight fruit aspect to the intial taste, with perhaps a dried apricot aspect in the finish. Probably not intentional (i.e. no fruit was harmed in the making of this beer), but does say something about the possibile complexity of the yeast used.

Nice mouthfeel, but where this beer comes into it's own is in the overall drinkability. Quite quaffable, especially in the Summer heat of San Diego.

Not something that I would strongly recommend, but still gets a "thumb's up", in my opinion.
//TB

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Golden color, large head. Lightly hopped, light malts, very fruity – banana and clove. Mild taste, but with a lot of flavor. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet, very little bitterness.

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 5

OK bad pour with this beer way too much frothy bubbly head and a was pouring very very carefully..below the half glass head the beer is a darkish honey golden....some yeast in suspension..loads of carbonation strings visiible. Smell is above average for a Golden ale..very "bready"..and zesty..ok. Taste though is thin and somewhat medicinal..espcially near the end..there are some good malt profiles early though thin. Way too carbonated for my palate,,though the dryness of the beer was pretty nice

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

Very good flavor. Not overwhelming.