Over the past few weeks, I've been sampling American Pale Ales from around the country. For this review, I popped open a bottle of Purist Pale Ale from the Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg, PA. Appalachian started in 1997, and they appear to be a small, local brewery/brewpub chain.  Apart from Harrisburg, there are locations in Camp Hill and Gettysburg as well. If I recall correctly, I got this beer as part of a $20 mix pack that included their Water Gap Wheat Ale, Mountain Lager, and Jolly Scot Scottish Ale as well—all decent brews by the way. That puts it at less than $2 per bottle, which I'd say is pretty reasonable.

The first thing I noticed when pouring this beer was the strong, citrusy American hop aroma. I'm not an expert on hop varieties (yet), but I'm pretty confident that it was lots of Cascade. There is also a nice, fresh, grassiness from dry hopping. A bit of toasty malt came through in the background.  In the glass, it presented a beautiful deep amber with a vigorous off-white head and excellent retention and lacing up the sides. The brew was quite hazy with yeast in suspension; it was definitely not filtered and may have been bottle-conditioned.

Taking a sip, I was not surprised, finding everything I expected from the nose. High hop flavor came in up front with a distinct citrusy American character and a noticeable dry hop grassiness. This was supported by a moderate-high hop bitterness and a nice, toasty background of malt to balance. The hop flavor faded a bit and the toastiness came through more on the backend in its smooth, dry finish.

So is the Purist Pale Ale the best APA out there? Definitely not. But I think it's a very solid, enjoyable example of the style. It has a nice hop character to it, and the toasty malt profile and strong dry hop character stand out to make it slightly better than the run-of-the-mill APA. I haven't had the opportunity to take the two hour trip to visit Harrisburg, but, when I do, I think I know where I'll be having dinner.

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