So here’s an interesting story for you. It all started with Platform Brewing New Cleveland Palesner, or rather, it didn’t. You see, my good buddy Dave Coulter had sent me some beer a while back, and I broke out the box he had used to return the favor. A few weeks or so had passed by, and although I had enjoyed the beers Dave had sent, little did I know that I had another treat in store.
For as I dug into the foam peanuts to start packing bottles, I found…..a can of New Cleveland Palesner from the Platform Brewing Company. I’m not sure how I could have missed this one when I first o the package, but I did, and when I found it I packed it right away into my beer fridge. A beer box from Dave-it’s the gift that keeps on giving!
As to the beer itself, as you might surmise by the name, this a pale ale/pilsner hybrid. Let’s let Platform tell us a little about it shall we? From the label:
Cleveland has always been a city of makers. Once the fifth-largest city in America, Cleveland’s hardworking residents rolled out an endless supply of iron and steel, cars and clothing, beer and whiskey. Those were heady times for the industrial Midwest. But fortunes change, factories close, jobs leave and somewhere along the way we lost our will to create. That’s changing-and fast. Born of a desire to build, a whole new generation of makers are fueling what’s being branded a rust belt revival. Artists, designers, builders, chefs and brewers once again are working to make Cleveland a capital of creation. But they’re not going it alone. The catchword these days is collaboration, powered by a mutual desire to return Cleveland to its rightful place of prominence. Want proof? You’re holding it, a unique beer birthed by two such makers: CLE Clothing Co. and Platform Beer. Part Pale Ale, part pilsner. 100% Cleveland.
OK, I know that’s a lot of text, and one might wonder how they fit it on the back of the can at all, but I assure you they did. To me, is symbolizes the brewing renaissance going on in Cleveland, one that I reveled in when I visited the Great Lakes brewery there many years ago.
Platform New Cleveland Palesner has an alcohol content of 5% by volume an comes in convenient cans and on tap. They do call it a hybrid beer, and on at least some of their cans Platform calls this “A pale ale brewed with pilsner malt”. Just this month, Platform announced that this beer will be available at all Cleveland Browns home games in convenient 16-ounce cans.
New Cleveland Palesner pours to a bright yellow-golden color with a thick creamy head formation and a soft biscuity malt pilsner nose. Taking a sip, the beer has that same biscuity malt character up front in the palate but with a twist: a pinch of pale-ale like fruitiness. In the finish, its back to a pilsner-like grassy herbal Germanic dry bitter hop character, and the beer finishes with a slightly bitter aftertaste.
Fusion beers don’t always work for me, but I think that Platform’s New Cleveland Palesner really does bring home the best of both worlds. It’s a delicious and interesting beer that won’t weigh you down, and really is symbolic of the new Cleveland and all the great beers being brewed there.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
(G)=Growler