Stone - Pale Ale

I had to sit back and think about this one long and hard. Normally I write a review while drinking a beer, but I felt this one needed a bit more contemplation than some others. Maybe of was the fact that I was enjoying my last night before my wife left town again... but I think it was the fact that I liked this beer so much that I felt like it deserved a good night of enjoying it before I really sat down to write.
In pouring this beer into my favorite pilsner glass it had good, but manageable head that I didn't have to wait forever to go down to a drinkable level. About 2 ish fingers worth. On the color front it was dark and slightly golden red, with a good amount of carbonation, but not too much. The weird part was that it didn't have much aroma for a Pale Ale... this stuck me as weird right off the bat. Usually a good pale ale will have a certain spicy ness or hop tinge to it, but it really just smelled like beer.
OK so on to the taste! This beer is phenomenal. I would guess that most people would say it is too tame or bland. I would tend to disagree with those people. Some times you just want a good beer with perfect refreshing flavor. And by god does this beer have exactly that. It has all the normal Pale Ale flavors, but they all come together in a perfect coalescence. There was a slight hopiness to it, there was a slight citrus to it, there was just a hint of bitterness. But nothing was overwhelming or to "out there". It has simply a good Pale Ale flavor with a heavy body, perfect refreshing flavor and great finish that is nice and refreshing. Something you would want to drink after a long day of working in the yard. It doesn't punch you in the jugular like Arrogant Bastard will, but that's the point. Part of Wheaties love as well is the fact that it does not have that soapy aftertaste that so many Pale Ales and IPAs have, too much pine and not enough balance. Like I said before this beer is a great blend of flavors.
I almost feel like Stone brewed this just to get non beer loving people to stop drinking the crap that is so readily available in ever super market. Granted this beer is not available most places outside of the west coast, but it is making its way inland, and that is a good thing. It makes me sad because this bottle was procured from a friend that works for Stone and sent me some bottles in return for sending her some Boulevard Chocolate Ale and Schlafly Bier De Garde. Sadly she is moving back to KC so now I have to wait for distribution to make its way out here. Thankfully this is sooner rather than later, so I don't have to wait too long. But I will say that I am anxiously awaiting its arrival.