Time to get some more beers reviewed here. I’ve got notes on several beers that I haven’t written up yet, but I’m skipping over those for the next couple of beers, because my (Super! Good!) friend Kina, who recently moved to Baker City, Oregon, sent me two growlers of beer from Baker City’s only brewpub, Barley Brown’s.

The first of the two is Tumble Off Pale Ale, a nice, drinkable and hoppy beer. I also wrote a review for this on its BeerAdvocate page (I figured I’ve been using the site as a reference so much lately that it’s time I start writing these reviews there, too), so I’m running that here as well.

Appearance: Relatively clear, orange, a hint of amber; shiny—almost a gold/copper. Got one finger of fluffy light beige head.

Smell: Strong on Northwest hops— they dominate the nose. Bitter citrus, grassy, lots of resin.

Taste: The hops dominate here, too. Flavor is pitchy, full of resin like a strong, fresh hop… some grapefruit… woody, twiggy. Malt base is neutral. I like a good hoppy beer, though this isn’t balanced as well as I’d like. More of a wet hop feel to it.

Mouthfeel: Dry, a bit puckerishly astringent. Otherwise it’s a tad watery but firm, well enough for the style.

I rather like this beer, though I do think the hops are over-balanced compared to the malt. I don’t particularly mind, as I like a nice hoppy beer, so it’s all good.

My review on the BeerAdvocate page brings the total up to two… not enough for an overall score, but the average so far is 3.88 out of 5. Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be a web site for Barley Brown’s yet; in the meantime, you can check out Kina’s review of it (with a couple of pictures).