I’m still at Black Raven Brewing in Redmond, Washington, and I just had their Totem Pale Northwest Ale, along with a pizza delivered there. I’m in town for a conference and was looking for good breweries in the area to visit. A poll of my Twitter followers, Facebook friends and people on my Google+ page, showed that this brewery came highly recommended by those who’ve been to the area. Therefore, when the conference wrapped up, this was one of my first stops of my last day/evening in the Seattle area.

Location: On tap and served in a slightly curved pint glass at Black Raven Brewing tasting room in Redmond, WA.

Numbers: 6.9% ABV, ~ 200 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: It’s got a copper-amber color and is slightly hazy. There’s a thin soapy-looking head, which left a little bit of lacing, and it’s got a citrusy hop aroma, with a hint of lightly caramel maltiness.

Taste & Feel: The body is medium and it has a fairly crisp mouthfeel. Much like the pale ale I just had, the crispness up front almost disguises the maltiness. In the middle, a citrusy hop bitterness comes in and grows throughout the slightly dry finish. The aftertaste has a good amount of citrusy hop bitterness that sticks around for a couple minutes.

Food Pairing: This beer also went very nicely with the pizza I had delivered. Much like the pizza, the citrusy hop flavors would probably go nicely with cheesy foods, such as fried cheese sticks, pizza, or even a cheeseburger. The citrusy hops add a bit of complexity to the cheese flavors.

Overall Impression: It was obvious from the aroma, this beer had a good amount of citrusy, northwest hops. Much like the Totem Pale Northwest Ale I had right before this one, the carbonation was a bit too sharp up front, leaving only the hop flavors and bitterness. I thought this was a pretty straight shooting beer with not much complexity, but still pretty drinkable with nice hop flavors.

My Rating:

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