Favorite APA??

One style I have not really taste tested a lot of is American Pale Ale. Sure, I have had a few and every brewery seems to have their version, but what are your favorite brands?
Home brews included...

My local brewery has a good one...

www.santafebrewing.com

and then there's always SN...

Sweetwater 420, always keep it in the fridge.

Three Floyds Alpha King and my all my APA's of course.

MikeG said:

Sweetwater 420, always keep it in the fridge.

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Funny you mention that... I have to spend a few weeks in Atlanta for job training starting next week. I will have to give that one a try.

MikeG said:

Sweetwater 420, always keep it in the fridge.

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That beer is not really a standard APA. I think they call it an "Extra Pale Ale". It's really light in color and flavor, IMO.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale should be available just about everwhere, and I think is a better representative of the APA style.

Three Floyds Alpha King is one of my all time favorite beers! I really don't consider it an APA though... I think of it as more of an IPA.

Schlafly's APA is what I tend to think fits the category better and is my favorite APA. Its delicious.

GLBC Burning River.

I'm a big fan of Deschuttes Mirror Pond. A little on the softer side when compared to more apparently bitter SNPA.

I should have mentioned that I really like Flying Dog's "Doggie Style", too.

ohiobrewtus said:

GLBC Burning River.

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+ 1

My favorite APA. Slightly eeks out SNPA.

MikeG said:

Sweetwater 420, always keep it in the fridge.

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Just tried for the first time a couple months ago... Moving to Alabama in a few days... can't wait to try more Sweetwater brews.

Walker-san said:

I should have mentioned that I really like Flying Dog's "Doggie Style", too.

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+1... I actually like a lot of their beers.

Does Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale count? What about Dreadnaught?

New Belgium's summer seasonal, Mighty Arrow.

DavidSteel said:

Does Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale count? What about Dreadnaught?

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Both IPA's, but both great beers.

BarleyWater said:

I'm a big fan of Deschuttes Mirror Pond. A little on the softer side when compared to more apparently bitter SNPA.

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+1 on Mirror Pond. I'm a fan of almost everything Deschuttes brews.

ohiobrewtus said:

GLBC Burning River.

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My favorite as well!

rking said:

Three Floyds Alpha King is one of my all time favorite beers! I really don't consider it an APA though... I think of it as more of an IPA.

Schlafly's APA is what I tend to think fits the category better and is my favorite APA. Its delicious.

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I agree with this post. Alpha King I think of as an IPA (whatever it may be called), and I really enjoy Schlafly's Dry-Hopped APA.

Mirror Pond++

30 years ago this would've been a much shorter discussion. I'm having flashbacks to arguing about Bud vs Pabst vs Genesee vs whatever because that's all we had available.

It's a great time to be a beer drinker :rockin:

ohiobrewtus said:

GLBC Burning River.

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That is great! I have not seen that brew, but I did go watch the river burn when I was a kid. We lived in Lakewood until 1971. When the river caught fire mom loaded us all in the station wagon and took us site-seeing! I can tell that I will need to get hold of a bottle to see if it lives up to my memory of the great event it celebrates!

BarleyWater said:

I'm a big fan of Deschuttes Mirror Pond. A little on the softer side when compared to more apparently bitter SNPA.

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Mirror Pond is said to be a better example of a true APA than SNPA. However, I like them both.

Firestone Pale 31

I agree with Great Lakes Burning River. Best APA I've ever had. It's even better than their IPA offering, Commodore Perry.

I also like SNPA. There are a lot of good ones out there, so make sure you sample as many as you can!

MBasile said:

Mirror Pond is said to be a better example of a true APA than SNPA. However, I like them both.

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Thats a pretty difficult argument to make, history being what it is.

SNPA, Sweetwater 420 and New Belgum's Mighty Arrow are all good.

+1 on the Sweetwater 420. Definately preffer it on tap vs. bottle.

+1 also on Sweetwater. Great brew tour if you get a chance (ask to talk to Dock)!

+1 on Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale. If you get a chance, it's the one to beat.

I also really enjoy the Pyramid Draught Pale Ale, which is served on Nitro and absolutely delicious. Only available at Pyramid Alehouses (Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Walnut Creek, Berkeley).

Widmer Drifter is mighty nice.

Others have mentioned some great APAs, but I didn't see Philadelphia Pale Ale from Yards, and Dales Pale Ale from Oskar Blues. These two I can always drink, and they are quite different from each other.

Dale's Pale ale is definitely my favorite beer in a can....

SNPA, Mirror Pond, and I'm surprised I haven't seen Anderson Valley PA.

Deshutes Organic Ale is Up there for me...Also Mammoth Brewing Co's Real McCoy Ale is great

Sierra Nevada is the quintecential apa I think. Classic example of this style. I'vebeen drinking a lot of widmers drifter pale ale. Dogfish shelter pale ale is on the top of my list as well.

Flying Dog's Doggie Style Pale Ale is one of my favorites.

Terrapin has a really good Rye Pale Ale, not really an APA but it's close!

SNPA will always be my go to and favorite but maybe becoming the "old school" choice. Mirror Pond is fantastic and I love it but SNPA has the history and in my mind will always be the quintessential APA.

Great Lakes Burning River is
Was drinking this again tonight and its quite delicious. The style guidelines say that they moderate to high hop flaver, but 99.9% of APA's I've had have little to no hop flavor. SNPA is probably the APA I have had the most and it's pretty good.

I like hops, so I am prejudice against the lowly hopped APA's. IPA's & IIPA's are delicious, but 6-10% ABV and I can't drink as many of them. Especially in a social situation where your friends are drinking 1 miller light to your 2 IIPA's. At least they can drive you home, but I wish alcohol content wasn't so tied to hop content.

The APA I just brewed 5 weeks ago used 0.5oz at 60min, and 6oz in the last 20 minutes, and 2oz dry hop. I made it slightly higher IBU than style guidelines, but like I said I want to taste hops. No idea how it is yet, just bottled it.

In this neck of the woods, southeastern PA, Stoudt's American Pale Ale is definitely worth a taste. I'm not sure how widely it's distributed.