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Before IPA became dominant in the craft beer world, pale ale was the most well-known and popular of American craft beer styles. Most breweries offered a pale ale, often as the flagship beer in their lineup. The best pales struck a lip-smacking, drinkable balance between hops and malt, with moderate strength and dry, sometimes malty or fruity finishes.

Over the past two decades, however, IPAs became more prominent as brewers and drinkers sought out stronger, hoppier beers. Around 2012, IPA officially became the top-selling craft beer style. These days it’s common to find multiple IPAs available at any given brewery while pale ales have taken something of a back seat.

That’s not to say the style has stayed stagnant. It has evolved with the times, much as IPA has. The original pale ales were loosely modeled on English bitters, with American hops and ample doses of caramel malt in place of unavailable traditional English varieties.

In recent years, the style has been reimagined with newer hop varieties and less caramel and character malts for a drier, lighter body. Many have been influenced by the rising popularity of hazy or juicy New England-style IPAs, which emphasize intense hop flavors, low bitterness and clean malt character.

One such newer style of pale ale I explored recently (though it’s not hazy) is OG Kush from Cascade Lakes Brewing Company. Billed as a “hoppy pale ale,” it was the first new beer introduced by brewmaster Ryan Schmiege when he started with the brewery earlier this year.

Schmiege envisions OG Kush as a fusion of modern trends with a throwback nod. “I like to think OG fits in with newer pale ales. I think the consumer is looking for a slightly less malty and drier pale ale. One that has a balanced, slightly lower, bitterness than some of the past standards,” he said via email.

At the same time, he employed classic American hops. “The hops used are Cascade, Centennial and Citra,” said Schmiege. “I believe there is still a myriad of great ways to use these versatile hops.”

The brewery recently provided me with a six-pack of OG Kush. My first impression from the beer was based in the name, which is also a strain of cannabis. The aroma is evocative of cannabis and has a character best described as “dank” along with fresh cut grass, piney hop resin, papaya and candied orange peel.

There is a grassy tobaccolike hop bitterness in the flavor that is a gentle balance to a toasty, crackery malt flavor with notes of bread crust. The hop flavor is green and pungent with herbal tea and spicy wild greens and a zesty finish.

With 5.3% alcohol by volume and 48 IBUs, I found this beer to be sessionable and quite drinkable.

Schmiege acknowledged the loaded name, playing off the brewery’s popular Pineapple Kush IPA, and added another meaning. “It’s also an inside nod to remind people that we at Cascade Lakes are some of (the) ‘Original Gangsters’ of independent craft brewing here in Central Oregon,” he said.

OG Kush fits my expectations for this modern pale ale sensibility and is worth seeking out.

Cascade Lakes isn’t the only local brewery dabbling in this arena either.

Other newer-style pales include Play Wave from Crux Fermentation Project, Sippy Cup Hazy Pale from GoodLife Brewing Company, Secret Spot Pacific Pale from Worthy Brewing Company, and WOWZA! Hazy Pale Ale from Deschutes Brewery. All of these beers tick the box, generally featuring lighter clean malt with an abundance of hop flavor without straying into IPA territory.

I asked Schmiege for his view on the pale ale style. “Unfortunately it seems to get lost between shiny beer lures these days,” he said. “I feel the American pale ale may ultimately be the most important beer style for craft brewers and drinkers. For me it embodies the primary reason we’re here, which is we wanted more flavor from our daily beer. More malt, hop and yeast flavors and impact.”

He doesn’t believe the style is going anywhere, however. “It stands to reason that pale ales will stand the test of time. The best of them remain highly drinkable with great flavor and exceptional quality.”

Top 5 Beers of the Week

Dec. 15, 2019

Rudolph’s Imperial Red from Three Creeks Brewing

Kris Kringle from McMenamins Old St. Francis School

Hibernation Ale from Great Divide Brewing

Polar Shaman Winter IPA from Silver Moon Brewing

Tannen Bomb from Golden Valley Brewery