May’s pick is Laurelwood’s Piston Pale Ale. There are a lot of pales in Portland, and a lot of competition. But if you’ve tried this one, you know we had to pick it.
Pale Ales are a wide category. For many beers, it is a catch-all category: if it doesn’t fit anywhere else, and it’s not too dark, it must be a Pale Ale. Luckily, many Portland breweries don’t make use of this cheap parlor trick. Though there is a lot of leeway with Pales, there are standards.
Piston Pale Ale is the essential Portland pint. It’s everything a Pale Ale should be, but with the great Northwest twist: bigger and better. In many other parts of the world, this would be considered an India Pale Ale. With stats like 5.6% abv, 35 IBUs, and an OG of 13 degrees Plato, Piston falls within the guidelines of a Pale Ale, but based on aroma and taste alone, nine out of ten dentists would call this an IPA.
Well, the beers grow bigger around here, and we’re OK with that. This beer is a perfect balance between malt and hops, with a great dry finish. It’s a perfect crisp beer in the warmer months. And, when it’s cooler outside, it does a wonderful job of scraping the sweetness of barleywines off of your tongue, with enough alcohol to keep you warm. This is truly a beer for all seasons. We hear it even goes great with breakfast! Not all Pale Ales can do that!
