Fat Bottom "Ida" Golden Ale

Aside from the first beer I had from these guys, I have enjoyed all of their wares. This is only my fifth beer from them, but I like to think that they've established themselves as a brewer who knows what they're doing. What they're doing with their can art, I'm not sure that I can speak to. It appears that their flagship beers are all festooned with cartoon images of women who have the look of a World War II era bombshells. I'm not sure what they're going for with it, but as long as they keep bringing me good beer I'll keep drinking it.

This is hazier than most golden ales that I've encountered before, but it appears to be just as golden. The head does not erupt from the can or even from the beer as it is poured, but there's enough head to let you know this is a beer. As it boils down, there is just a dusting across the top with the familiar ring around the sides of glass. The aroma is sweet, sweet malt and a very light yeast.

First sip is, as is predictable with the style, very crisp. The beer let you know what it's about, and that is about the sweet malt that has very competent grains and a yeast that is just putting enough spin on the beverage to give it a little flavor of its own. While the sip is very clean, the lingering haze left over from the malt is a little grainy and more than a little sweet, and it entices one to go back in for another sip.

Tip-in is grains and a shade of bitterness before the malt's sweet nature is allowed to start taking over. The center of the beer is smooth; smoother than any beverage has a right to be while still being able to crest 6.2% ABV. The finish is an unexpected tinge of tartness with the grains rising up for leaving a sweet trail off.

Bottom Line: A tasty beverage that I'm glad came in a four pack.

3.5/5