Beer 396 - Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale

Graham's Score: 3 stars out of 5

Brewed and canned by Oskar Blues Brewery, Longmount, CO. Bought at Randall's grocery store near the Galleria in Houston and drunk at home in Katy, TX while preparing dinner of turkey meatballs cooked in Newman's Own spaghetti sauce and served over fettuccini. Comfort food after a hard week, then a hour or so grocery shopping at Randall's.  This is the third week of a grocery price survey and the first indications are that Randall's are more expensive in most items than Walmart or HEB - but more to come on this analysis.

Web site: http://www.oskarblues.com/the-brews/dales-pale-ale

The web site says “America’s first hand-canned craft beer is a voluminously hopped mutha that delivers a hoppy nose, assertive-but-balanced flavors of pale malts and hops from start to finish. First canned in 2002, Dale’s Pale Ale is a hearty (6.5% and 65 IBUs), critically acclaimed trailblazer that has changed the way craft beer fiends perceive canned beer. 6.5% ABV”

I am not so sure that this is well balanced.  The beer is a little over-hoppy for my tastes.  A little too sharp in the first drink, to be completely enjoyable.

The 1,469 reviewers at RateBeer.com did not agree with me.  They gave it an average score of 3.72 (http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/oskar-blues-dales-pale-ale/11576/ ) which puts it in the 98^th percentile overall and in the 100^th percentile in its class of American Pale Ale.

The 1,377 reviewers at BeerAdvocate.com gave the beer an average score of 3.96 which rated it as an B+ = Very Good (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2681/6518 )