The Swill: Fat Weasel Pale Ale
The Still: River Trent Brewing Company (contractor)
Ukiah, California
Mendocino Brewing Company (contractee)
Hopland, California
http://www.mendobrew.com
The Drill: Pale Ale, 12oz bottle, ABV unknown
The Spill: This beer pours out the color of straw with a white head. The aroma is pilsner-like, with not much hops doing. It also has a sweet pilsner taste, almost as if it was put in the wrong bottle. The mouthfeel is thin, not crisp like a pilsner, but wet and watery through and through. There is absolutely no hop flavor in this beer, so much so that to call it an American pale ale is a flagrant misnomer.
Says Bill: This beer isn't bad, or offensive, but it's not pronounced in the way that any pale, good or bad, ought to be. It's completely unobtrusive and wholly underwhelming. It's also another one of Trader Joe's mystery beers, brews that are contract-brewed for the retail chain, and are attempted to be made untraceable by renaming both beer and brewer. I must imagine the contracted brewing company is insulted by this on some level, and they give TJ's the bland crap to slap their own name on. It certainly would explain this beer if that were the case.
Refill: Fat weasel, thin skunk: 1 tap out of 5.