Stone Pale Ale

[Before I start the review, I need to take classes or read books on particular beer attributes for reviewing all 5 of the standard Beeradvocate categories. Any recommendations fellow Hopheads for me, JimmyHoppyHead that feels like his reviews are falling off the face of the earth as if it was a square like some of Christopher Columbus's nemesis' told him]

Never had this beer from one of my favorite west coast breweries, as well as wanting a light beer to mellow out to after a strenuous day at the office, are the main reasons why I picked up a 6 pack back in the middle of September at State Line Liquors in Elkton, MD. Lets see what my sub par review instincts can handle:

Appearance: Pours pale goodness with shades of an orange brown leather. Head dissipates from 1/4 finger of head to a remote fragile island in the middle of my 8oz NY Craft Beer glass. Surprisingly not as clear as expected for a pale ale but I can make out our pretty blog as I star gaze through the glass. Carbonation dies down after 3 minutes making the ale look uninviting as if Public Safety rolled in and broke up the party.

Smell: Nutty butternut squash aromatic qualities surround my nose with grassy hop characteristics.

Taste: Sweet and faint caramel touch to the tongue that is more weighted towards the malt side of the spectrum rather than hops in terms of the balance. The hops taste almost sour (probably from the yeasts) and give it a fruit like appeal - lime orange?

Mouthfeel: Carbonation bites the tongue and you can trace a little rascal of aggressive hops that shocked me in a pale ale. Caramel sweet not so pleasant aftertaste lingers. Beer goes down smooth but the carbonation makes it coarse.

Drinkability: Interesting...the appearance looked boring after awhile but the over carbonated mouthfeel was the opposite. Same with my smelly, which picked out different malts and hops then my taste(less) buds. All in all, an interesting Pale Ale that I say is well balanced and I would have another before changing flight to something more "extreme" for the night. 5.4% abv, 41 IBUs and 7.5/10 for me.