Friday, November 2, 2007

Speakeasy Ales & Lagers: Untouchable Pale Ale

I inundated myself with Speakeasy this summer.

As it was my first time living in San Francisco City proper, I tried absorbing 'The City' by going all out local all the time. As former Washingtonians, Shaan (my former roommate and drinking buddy) and I are use to sucking down Redhook, Mac & Jack's, and Pyramid at home. With a new home, we tried switching it up. We traded in the old three for a new three: Anchor, Magnolia, and Speakeasy. And it wasn't that hard as these brews were on tap at every bar in our new hood.

I felt I had to consume large amounts of Speakeasy and I even joined the Speakeasy mob.

Speakeasy is rather small so it's pretty hard to find outside of SF. So I got pretty stoked when Vacaville BevMo randomly had two 6 packs in it's back room; so I snatched it up as soon as I discovered 'em. Unfortunately it was Untouchable Pale Ale. Although not bad in any sense, I prefer White Lighting, Big Daddy, and Prohibition. But I still had to write a review to spread the word for their other fine brews. And well, I didn't have much else in the fridge. (click on the picture to see my beer deviously plotting their escape from their cold prison)

Untouchable is a very unique American Pale Ale. It's most overwhelming quality is its toasted malts. I would say most APAs go for a balance between Hops and Malts, or, if anything, favor the hops. This beers is almost all toasted malts. I say toasted because it has that distinct charred malt flavor that you hear beer snobs talk about but never actually taste. This beer has got it. It's other notable feature is quick disappearance of the head that leaves a nice lacing behind as you drink it.

So if you are in The City and in mood for a Pale Ale that doesn't follow the trend try Untouchable. But if you want their best go with White Lighting or Prohibition. Cheers.

2 comments:

David James said...

I found Untouchable Pale Ale to be a good beer overall, pretty well balanced between the malt and the hops. I didn't unfortunately find it to be an extraordinary APA. To me personally, nothing stuck out as unique to the style. Not that it wasn't a good beer (I thought it was) it just didn't break any new ground for me. I think it more of a "crossover" beer for folks starting to explore more into the microbrew/craft beer arenas. I did a little review of Speakeasy Untouchable Pale Ale, but unfortunately not as in depth as yours. Nice job, I'll be back to read more!

David James said...

Hi Mattie,
Good review and I really enjoy your blog here. Thanks for stopping by at Microbrew Review and thanks for your comment on the California beers, reviewing them and giving the props they deserve. Your comment inspired me to review a little Cally brew I had in my fridge the other night by lagunitas brewery. It's a good one you're probably already privvy to, but I wasn't sure.

Lagunitas has provided me with some pretty darn good microbrews in my experience and I'm looking forward to trying more as I find them here.