Miasmatic Review

Hook & Ladder Golden Ale

Tonight I’ll be reviewing a beer that I’ve had suggested to me by multiple individuals. The beer of choice is a Golden Ale by Hook & Ladder Brewing Company in Rochester, NY. As a bonus for this brewing company, they donate money from their sales to a local burn foundation. In fact they proudly state they donate a penny for every pint, a quarter for every case that they sell. It makes me wonder if I can start drinking this beer and using it as a tax deduction.

They use a standard 12 oz brown bottle. There is a tan label with a red fire fighter style Maltese cross. The name of the beer company is in the cross in a two tone white and gold lettering. Under the cross is the name of the beer with two crossed axes under it. The neck label states, “For every barrel we sell, we make a donation to a local burn foundation” and “A penny for every pint.”

There is a nice golden straw coloring to the beer. It is clear, with no signs of cloudiness of floaters to it. When I poured it into a pint glass, almost no head formed. What head there was consisted of tiny white bubbles and faded quickly to nothing, not even a ring around the edge of the glass. There was no lacing at all.

The scent is a mainly a dray caramel malt with a slight graininess to it. There were some floral hops in the background that helped enrich the overall scent. The flavor is a subtle and a little week. It’s mainly of malted grains and a very mild hop finish. The combination of ingredients gives the beer a very mild pear flavor in the background.

This is a light bodied beer. Almost no coating to the mouth and it passes over the tongue very easily. The carbonation is a little strong and bites on the tongue and lips.

Overall this is a nice, gentle beer. I think this would be a good one for a hot summer day. The thought of sitting out on the front porch kicking back a couple of ice cold ales or even sitting around a campfire on a cool summer night with friends. I enjoyed it, and could see myself picking up another six pack sometime in the future, especially since each purchase helps a burn foundation. I give it 5.5 out of ten. (An extra half point for the generosity.)