Taste Test: Phin & Matt’s Extraordinary Ale

Some of the naysayers might say that a taste test on GearMoose.com is just another reason to drink craft beer during the day. We can’t argue that logic. While not a new beer per say, Phin & Matt’s Extraordinary Ale by Southern Tier Brewing Company is certainly new to our palates, which is a problem that a quick beer run and a handy bottle opener easily remedied.

Phin & Matt’s Extraordinary Ale is one of Southern Tier’s year-round American Pale Ales that boasts a variety of three different hops, balanced by a variety of three malts, and an ABV of 5.7%. Packaged in a handsome 12-ounce bottle, Phin & Matt’s pours a light-golden amber color with a half-inch frothy head that begins to dissipate rather quickly, leaving behind plenty of lacing while giving way to hints of hops and citrus overtaken by a cereal grain malt aroma.

The first sip reveals an instantaneous citrus fruit taste that is almost immediately repaced by a bready malt flavor with a very mild sweetness throughout—followed by a mildly bitter, grassy hop finish. The blended hops and malts balance each other well, with neither one overpowering the other too aggressively. All in all Phin & Matt’s Extraordinary Ale is a good medium beer choice year round.

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