Pitching Tents


Brewery and Country of Origin: Uinta Brewing Company of 1722 Fremont Dr, Salt Lake City, UT 84104, USA

Date Reviewed: 1-09-15

In the US, there are 59 National Parks, of which five are located in the state of Utah. With Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion contained completely or at least partly within the Beehive State, Utah is third among states with national parks, following Alaska with seven, and California with eight. And in an indirect way, this particular Pale Ale pays tribute to these natural wonders. Though its creator, Uinta, reigns from the state's largest city, Salt Lake, every part of the state's landscape and dramatic backdrops have helped it gain recognition as one of the country's most naturally beautiful states, no matter what part of it you're in. As far as Salt Lake is concerned, it's not terribly close to any of Utah's national parks (within a couple hours or so), but that doesn't mean you still can't head out of the city and enjoy a weekend/week long camping trip. This is a low strength alcohol beer, but it still offers a good amount of flavor and character. Perhaps the brewers at Uinta crafted this beer with the great outdoors in mind. Aside from its piney fresh notes, this beer won't get you drunk, even if you consume many of them. And a sessionable ale like that allows you to enjoy your surroundings more than if you were pounding back imperials or doubles. This beer also comes in canned form, for those of you needing to pack more efficiently and carry them longer distances. It even has a miniature illustration of a tent on the label. And a name like "Wyld" provokes a frontier land, great outdoors sort of image. Utah is home to over 7,000 diverse campsites and pragmatically unlimited private camping opportunities which makes it one of the best, probably top three states to go camping. But if you do venture out to the country's 13th largest state by land area, make sure you carry out what you bring in, especially those beer cans and bottles.
Date Sampled: 10-25-14 At: Puffin's Wilderness Refuge, Stab City, Blackthorne Resort, 348 Sunside Road, East Durham, NY, USA
Beer Style: American Pale Ale
Alcohol by Volume: 4.00%
Serving Type: 12 oz Bottle, 16 oz Tumbler Glass
Rating: 3.16

Look

Wyld pours fairly smoothly with a medium low amount of carbonation action, producing a thin, quarter inch tall foam head with a white color, a medium high density, a white color, and a low retention rate. This beer owes its hazy appearance to the inclusion of a high amount of extra fine sediment, which does not settle, and produces a very bright golden glow in light. This beer shows off an average amount of effervescent effect and a moderate amount of lacing.

Aroma

Overall, this is a hop dominated beer, as expected for the style. The combination of hops in this beer give off some piney and slightly persistent citrus notes, which go along with a faint, subtle pale malt, somewhat cereal like secondary. This beer's aroma is mostly bitter overall, contains no alcohol or metallic tinge, and includes some yeast induced banana fruity notes. This beer has a relatively low strength aroma which does little to enhance this beer's flavor.

Feel

This is a medium light bodied brew with a medium low viscosity and a below average weight, making this beer an easy to drink, lighter experience. This beer also has an average amount of carbonation, and a crisp and refreshing feel throughout. This beer finishes fairly dry with a lingering chilling effect, and no alcohol induced warming or bite. There is no added texture from this beer's fine sediment.

Taste

Immediately, this beer comes out with a bitter, clean punch that delivers a heavy amount of citrusy piney hops and a slightly herbal flavor. This comes with a subtle grassy, pale malt secondary, and a presence of orange flavor with a good amount of clove and coriander spices. This beer has a very dry finish with a bitter, lingering aftertaste, that doesn't contain any alcohol bite.

Our Take

Compared to most imperial or double IPAs, this is a pretty non-descript, casual drinking beverage that should at least satisfy most looking for a fairly hoppy beer without any overpowering or notable features. Still, Wyld does tick all of the trademark IPA notches, being a clean, bitter, hop filled pale ale which finishes dry and crisp. This is a pretty easy going beer which has a good amount of drinkability without losing any real presence. A few shortcomings of this brew include its rather understated aroma, a somewhat generic finish which does little to satiate the need to drink more - perhaps that could be looked at as a positive note, and this beer's rather weak alcohol content, especially for a non-light beer not considered a session ale. This beer's overall moderately bitter flavor makes it a good pairing device for mellower, soft cheeses, sweet salads, and seafood.