Dead Woodsman Pale Ale

 

          Once upon a time, there was a brewery named Bench Creek Brewing, who opened their doors in 2014 outside of Edson, Alberta. They made many beers including an American pale ale called Naked Woodsman. Legal issues forced Bench Creek to change their name so that now they are known as Apex Predator Brewing; a name well suited to symbolize survival in a hostile, competitive environment. Due to other legal issues, the brewery was forced to retire their Naked Woodsman was in 2018, only three years after bringing their Naked Woodsman into the world.

Clocking in at a solid 5.2% abv and medium bitterness, Dead Woodsman is an American style pale ale. The American pale ale is similar to the English version, but with local, American ingredients. This can result in less caramel flavor or fruit ester than you’d expect in the English model. The hop profile is also less outright bitterness and more flavors of citrus, grapefruit, and pine. Dead Woodsman is crystal clear and pale copper in color. Minimal CO2 hold up a rocky, cream colored head with good retention

          Aromas of soda cracker start things off, leading swiftly into deeper aromas of fresh baked bread. Hints of earthiness come out in the middle coupled with just a hint of what could be dried orange peels. Baked bread aroma adds an odd through note, throwing an otherwise decent aroma out of balance. Or is that an aroma of ripe pitted fruit? Either way, the whole thing fades into a quiet finish without any of the hop presence one might expect from an American pale ale.

          First sip gives me something medium bodied and crisp, with a promising underlying sweetness. There’s an initial, up front dryness before the sweetness kicks In, giving me an impression of soda cracker malt flavors. Malt flavors build towards a rounded center where I find just a faint hint of lemon drop citrus. This is where everything fades into a crisp, assertive, but not overstated bitter finish. Bitter finish is just pleasantly assertive enough to be enjoyable.

          After giving it some thought, I’m going to give Dead Woodsman 6.5 out of 10. The beer has some elements in its flavor and mouthfeel that are decent, bordering on enjoyable enough to give this pale ale a slightly higher score. The aroma throws me off, however. The bready quality just threw things a little off balance in my opinion. And the flavors, pleasant as they are just weren’t enough to totally make up for it. That being said, Dead Woodsman is a very passable pale ale.