Back in April, my local Taco Mac ran a promotion to help launch Palm Ales in Georgia. They proclaimed Palm Speciale as beer of the month, and every Thursday they gave you a nifty little beer glass if you ordered a pint. I was ordering anyway, of course, not just to add another beer to my Brewniversity belt, but also because I always love to try a new beer.

Not that Palm Speciale is a new beer, mind you, or that this is a new brewery. I just had not tried it before myself. The Palm brewery has a history that goes all the way back to 1747 in Steenhuffel, Belgium. Today Palm owns a number of small craft breweries as well, including well known beer aficionado favorites like Rodenbach and Boon.

Palm Speciale (or Palm Ale) is their take on a classic pale ale, done up with a touch of Belgian flair. It’s brewed with caramel malt to add color and flavor, and it certainly has both in abundance. It’s not an overpowering beer, nor an excessively hoppy one, but it is a charming little malty ale that’s perfect for slowly sipping away a spring or summer afternoon. The average alcohol content of 5.4% by volume makes that possible, too.

I ordered up a glass of Palm Speciale from a recently tapped keg soon after it arrived at my local Taco Mac. The beer arrived deep red russet in color, with a thick creamy head formation and a most remarkable sweet caramel malty nose. I took a gentle pull from my glass, coating my mustache with foam as I did so. As the liquid descended in my glass, the sides were painted with a fine layer of Brussels lace.

The palate is on the sweet side, with a bit of caramel and corn pressing through immediately. The beer is very malty as the nose suggested it would be. Indeed, I had the pleasant sensation that it tasted like a brewery smells as I drank. Notes of fresh, husky sweet un-malted wort were present up front, although the hops did eventually balance that out. They appear in finish with just enough grassy bitterness to attenuate and make this one pleasant and more-ish.

Legendary beer writer Michael Jackson once said of Palm Ale, “If I could have a beer for breakfast, I would have a PALM.”  I’ll confess that I don’t drink beer for breakfast, but I can certainly see enjoying a Palm with lunch. Or maybe it might go well with fresh fruit and croissants at breakfast after all; who am I to argue with the father of the modern craft brewing movement?



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