Pull Tabs from BlackStack is an early contender for Beer of the Year.
It has been almost four years since I had my first BlackStack beer and shared it on BBG. And after a long hiatus, I finally have another beer from the St. Paul, Minnesota brewery I wanted to share with you all.
BlackStack has been brewing up gold in St. Paul’s Midway district since 2017 and today I have a beer of theirs that was first released all the way back in 2019 – Pull Tabs.
Pull Tabs is a hazy Pale Ale and they have now released five versions of this brew over the last five years. For the fifth version of the brew, which was just released a few weeks ago on January 20th, they used Mosaic, El Dorado, and Idaho 7 hops. It has a solid 6% ABV and I was able to procure a can for $6 but a four pack in their distribution range is much cheaper, running about $16.
This New England Pale Ale poured a slightly cloudy, bright golden straw color. There wasn’t much head to the brew, maybe just about a finger of eggshell white foam. The little bit of head quickly dispersed but left a solid amount of lacing as it did so, coating nearly the entire glass in a thin webbing.
The aroma was light and subtle but the flavors I could smell were quite juicy and tropical, with a bit of resin mixed in. Tangerine, papaya, and guava brought forth the juicier aspects while a pithy grapefruit and orange rind added that resinous quality.
Each sip begins soft and subtly – just like it smelled. There was very little fizzle from the carbonation even, as the beer was more pillowy and had a slightly thicker body.
Everything about the taste was subtle and sessionable. There were juicy flashes of tangerine and papaya. Some light pineapple and guava would also sneak in at spots.
After a moment or two, there was the tiniest bitter twinge – mostly from the grapefruit peel – that bright forward a dash of sticky resin. Joining the beer there was a bit of the flaked wheat and oats, with a cereal-like quality popping up for a second.
Towards the backend, Pull Tabs turns juicy again, with the tangerine and papaya spiking one last time and finishing the sip on a very high note. The beer even ends insanely clean. There’s a bit of that resinous feeling and some citrus characteristics that linger on but it’s very light and very, very, very sessionable.
This is an absolutely delicious NEPA. I wish I had more than just one can. I could easily polish off a 4-pack of this in like 20 minutes. This is by far my new favorite Blackstack beer and I will be looking for it again and again and again…so good.
