Oskar Blues Dale's Pale...???

[agrazela]

Last night took the family out for wings and mashed potato and bacon pizza at a local pub. Mmmm.

Wife ordered Modern Times Rolling Boomers, waitress poured from can. I ordered Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale (never had it before) from the draft list.

I tasted my wife's beer, it was just what I expected, could smell the hops from across the table, could easily pick out the hop extract and the Citra. Just enough malt, nice dry finish, yum.

She tasted mine, said it was "bland and sweet."

Hm, OK...I check out the Dale's: very little aroma to speak of except caramel and a very slight touch of floral. Flavorwise, I get sickly sweet caramel, almost cola, with maybe a touch of honey, and a lingering aftertaste of bubblegum. No discernible hop flavor at all. Almost no head, very little lacing. Light in the place was very dim, so could not tell color / clarity so much.

It was not undrinkable, it just wasn't the super-hoppy pale ale / near-IPA I was expecting.

Maybe they brought me the wrong thing, so I asked for a taster to be sure...taster comes, and it's the same story.

Got home and looked up reviews on Dale's, and I could not match my experience to anything reviewers said. Had a pint of my own rye centennial amber, everything was fine there, my nose and tongue are working.

So, was the keg super old? Did they hook up the wrong keg? Dirty lines? Am I just hopelessly lupulin shifted?

Anyone else have an experience like this?

 

[buzd]

I've had Dale's multiple times, both on draft and from the can, and I've never experienced what you are describing.

 

[BreezyBrew]

Dale's is a maltier pale ale, and is going to be sweeter since it's about 6.5% last time I looked. That being said, it sounds like the keg was old to me. Hoppy beers with crystal in them seem to have a shorter shelf life.

 

[eadavis80]

Dale's Pale is one of three beers out of 241 I have on Untappd I have given 5 stars to.

 

[Fedora]

Never had Dale's on draft but I'm drinking one now, right from the can. It's one of my go to, everyday beers since they started distributing here. It is malt sweet but plenty of IBUs to balance. It's a pale, mind you. Not an IPA. Not sickly sweet or I wouldn't be drinking it.

Hop aroma isn't huge but I am drinking it out of the can and this one is four months old. A great beer IMO.

 

[BrewinBromanite]

Haven't had one in quite a while, but I recall it being pretty malty and fuller body than a lot of pales, and also moderate bitterness. Again, been a while, but I remember decent hoppy aroma and flavor - but that depends a lot on how fresh it is. Try a can if you can find a fresh one and reevaluate - for the sake of research!

 

[Barley_Bob]

I had a somewhat similar experience with Lagunita's Little Sumpin Simpin. In the end, it was, of course, a problem on the restaurant's end. Although it's still not a favorite, it definitely is not as bad as that first glass.

Get you some cans, bro!

I'll also say that I wasn't crazy about Dale's Pale Ale the first time I had it. I think it's way better out of an IPA glass, which really helps accentuate the hops (for those of us who want that). In the end, I was buying it pretty regularly last summer.

Good luck!

 

[jgarretson]

I live about 45 minutes from Oskar Blues and have had Dales in every form and location imaginable. It's a malty pale ale with low hop aroma and bitterness for me but it's all relative right? I like their Pinner and GKnight better. I think a lot of their beers tend to the crystal sweetness side.