I’m at a conference this week in Seattle on the Microsoft campus. At the end of the day, the conference hosted a networking event at the Spitfire Grill there on campus. I grabbed a beer while the presidential debate was on TV. I saw this on tap and hadn’t heard of the brewery before, so I thought I’d give it a try. Turns out the Brewery was right there in Redmond, WA.

Location: On tap and served in a pint glass at the Spitfire Grill on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, WA.

Appearance & Aroma: It’s more orange with some amber hues, and it’s pretty cloudy. It’s got a thick, creamy off-white head that stuck around for a bit and left a decent amount of lacing on the glass. The aroma was malty and bready with hints of caramel malts and some citrusy-floral hops.

Taste & Feel: The body was solidly medium and the mouthfeel was a bit crisp from the carbonation in it. The flavor up front was sweet and malty with mostly bread and honey flavors and hints of caramel. In the middle, the caramel malts came through a bit more, and it finished with a bit of a citrusy-floral hop bitterness. The aftertaste lingered briefly with a mix of breadiness and citrusy hops flavor.

Food Pairing: This was a fairly straightforward beer with a good amount of maltiness and a bit of hops in the finish. The body was a bit too full for me to recommend fried bar foods, which the flavor would probably go nicely with, so I’d recommend pairing this with a thick juicy burger. The bready malts up front make a nice transition from the juicy beef and bready bun, while the hop flavor in the finish clears it all away.

Overall Impression: It was a pretty fairly balanced beer with a good amount of maltiness up front, and the hop bitterness coming through in the finish. While the flavor up front was a mix of different flavors, it came off a bit muddled rather than complex. However, I thought it finished quite nicely with the mix of caramel maltiness and citrusy hop flavors.

My Rating:

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