Pale Aura – a hazy pale ale from Pondaseta Brewing
Nestled in the Texas panhandle, Pondaseta Brewing has called Amarillo home since they opened their doors back in 2018. They have continued to grow over these last 5+ years and currently have plans to open a second location in nearby Canyon, Texas, about 14 miles south of their OG brewery.
Prior to today, I have had only four beers from Pondaseta, including RazzBecky which I reviewed here almost exactly three years ago. But I was recently able to find another one of their cans and jumped at the opportunity.
Today I have their Pale Aura, a hazy Pale Ale brewed with Pilsner malt and oats. The brewers used fived hops on this beer – a massive amount of Citra and HBC 586 with some Galaxy, Idaho 7, and Strata hops backing them up. It has a solid 6% ABV and a single 16-ounce can cost me just over $6.
Pouring a murky golden straw color, with some nice orange hues, this hazy Pale Ale had about two fingers of eggshell white head topping it off. The foam slowly fizzled down, leaving a small pile going around the glass and a few clouds floating in the middle. There was some nice lacing down the sides, as nearly the entirety of the glass had some thin bubbles clinging to it.
The aroma was insanely dank. Massive herbal and floral notes, from the Idaho 7 hops, led the charge with some tropical and fruity notes following closely behind. There was a slew of fruits that could be picked up underneath the diesel and dank hops – berries, tangerine, pineapple, papaya, mango, and pithy grapefruit were all there.
Each sip begins with just a small rush of carbonation. The brew has a lighter body and a more watery mouthfeel, making it quite sessionable and crushable.
Those fruity hops kick off the flavor, with a juicy wave of fresh-squeezed orange juice, mango, papaya, and tangerine leading the way. The pineapple hits next, as it builds up with a bit of acidity. The berries weren’t nearly as easily identifiable in the sip as they were in the aroma but, occasionally, you could pick them up.
Towards the backend of the sip, the hops change course. From those juicy and fruity notes to the more dank and herbal ones. There is a bit of resinous diesel and some pithy grapefruit peel notes as well that adds a bit of bitterness that the first half of the taste did not have.
Pale Aura finished quite clean. There was a bit of grapefruit rind and a slightly hoppy twinge that lingered on but one last push of juicy mango and berries made it a much more palatable and lighter finish.
It does seem to become a bit heavier the more you drink, going from slamming the first half to drinking the second eight ounces a bit slower…but not much slower. It’s still super light and refreshing.
Overall, I’m a big fan of the plethora of flavors you get from the hops in this one. You get a huge burst of juicy and tropical fruit flavors early on and then the more hardcore hop flavors later on all in one easy to drink beer. When you want flavor without filling up too much, this is a great beer to reach for.
