Why are White Birch beers like a box of chocolates? Because you never know what you’re gonna get. That’s because they seem to change the recipe quite frequently on their beers. I noticed this with my bottle of White Birch Hop Session Ale not long ago. This is called a “session IPA”, though in my opinion no such animal exists. In any case, when the beer was first introduced in February of 2012 it had an alcohol content of 3.7% ABV, making it at least a true session beer. The bottle that I reviewed in August 2013 had 5.2% ABV on the label, while the website had another label at 5%.

Now the same is happening with White Birch Belgian Style Pale Ale. The bottle I am sampling as I type has an alcohol content of 6.5%, however Jeff Lyons reports in his excellent Youtube review of the same beer from a year earlier it was 6.7%.

When I think Belgian style pale ales, I think of beers like Palm Ale or De Koninck. I think White Birch’s example is a more Americanized one, and is a bit paler in color and less full in body. Still, I don’t think the brewers at White Birch were necessarily trying to replicate those Belgian examples exactly. They reference on the label that the style has “a history going back to the mid 1700s”. This is true; it may be older. But they then go on to call White Birch Belgian Style Pale Ale “our interpretation of this style”.

White Birch Belgian Style Pale Ale pours to a brilliant golden orange color with a moderate head of rocky foam and a subtle nose of light malt and white pepper. Taking a sip, the beer has a very delicate, almost biscutiy crisp maltiness underneath. The palate is creamy and just flows right over the tongue. Belgian pilsner malt perhaps? Some light spice follows through, perhaps coriander and pepper, fruity apple cider, then a light funky Belgian yeast character and finally, in the finish, a good punch of balancing bitter hops. Rousing the yeast at the last and pouring into the bottle adds a delightful tart nuttiness to the beer.

Everything about this beer is on the subtle and balanced side until you hit the finish, where I think the grassy herbal-bitter hops make the final statement. A wonderful sipping pale ale, a bit too subtle I think for me in the yeast and spice to really be considered one of the best examples of Belgian pale ale, but a great beer all the same. A wonderful lightly spiced, very drinkable pale ale that you could sip on and on. Flavors come out fully as it warms, and with the yeast. Amazing.



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