Hoppy Ending

 Hoppy Ending is an American Pale Ale by the Palo Alto Brewing Company (PABC). This brewery has varied layers of history and production. Beer Advocate ties PABC to the Fire House Grill & Brewery, but that doesn't reflect the current reality.

The Fire House used to be Stoddard's Brewhouse. Before that it used to be known as the Palo Alto Brewing Company in the mid 1980's. Oddly, the PABC of the 1980's brewed Pete's Wicked Ales for a short time. However, I cannot find a direct connection today between the Fire House and the current PABC other than that history. To complicate the situation, PABC contracts with Hermitage Brewing Company of San Jose to brew their beers.

Essentially, PABC is what is known as a gypsy brewery. They are becoming more common. Labels like Mikkeler and Evil Twin are gypsy breweries. Although I do find it odd that as a gypsy Palo Alto Brewing is named after a static location.

I found this one at the Curtis Park Market in Sacramento. It has an ABV of 5.5%.

The aroma has light pale malts and light stone fruit, The taste has light caramel malt, and a light, bitter citrus rind finish. A swirl in the mouth can coax out some of the stone fruit flavor. The mouthfeel is effervescent with a light medium body.

There's not much flavor to grab on to, but there are no off flavors. The body is where it needs to be for an APA, but nothing stands out. The brewing technique is good, but without a lot of flavor and nothing really unique, I would recommend Skipping It. There's too many pale ales and too many breweries now to put out a flavorless APA.