Humboldt Brewing Company - Pale Nectar

Like their Red Nectar, Humboldt B.C.’s Pale Nectar presents, not surprisingly, another nectar-like aroma, replete with big fruity tones, sweet elements, and floral hops. We can’t say enough about the great nose on both of these beers! Look for a bit of fruit juiciness to mix deliciously with aromatic, citrus-like hops. This is a real palate pleaser too. The sweeter, floral elements are more quickly extinguished by the bitter hop influences in this beer (verses their Red Nectar which takes a bit longer before those hops kick in and do their thang). You can expect hops to be well-dosed in this beer, but never imposing; just a nice prominence. And despite being heavier on the hops, this is still a very well-balanced beer. Finish is appropriately bitter for the style, long-lasting too. Great with medium-to-well-done sirloin steak. Cheers!

The Humboldt Brewing Company has been a pioneer in the craft brewing industry for many years now. Their roots go back to the 50s—1850s that is! The original Humboldt Brewing Co. started in 1854 in Eureka, California. It seems those ol’ 49ers worked up quite a thirst in a place like Eureka! It remained in operation until 1940, excluding the years of Prohibition. In 1987 Humboldt Brewing Company was reopened by brothers Mario and Vince Celotto. It featured a restaurant with its own unique house-brewed beer. In 1993, as a result of popular response to the beer, the brewery operation was expanded. Recognize the name Celotto do ya? Just can’t place it? Well, it turns out that proprietor Mario Celotto was a professional football player before starting the Humboldt Brewing Company in 1987. To be more specific, he was a member of the Oakland Raiders 1980 Super Bowl championship team. From what we hear, the brewpub décor provides a veritable NFL history lesson! Here’s another interesting bit of trivia: Humboldt Brewing Company currently holds the only approved license for brewing hemp beer in the U.S. There was a time when more than 15 separate breweries made a hemp ale. But as regulations have tightened over the past 10 years, brewers saw their hemp ales forced out of the marketplace one by one. One lucky fellow who still gets to play with the hemp is Humboldt’s Head Brewer Matt Brynildson, though we don’t figure that luck had much to do with him being named Mid-Sized Brewing Company Brewmaster of the Year in 2003—it’s a distinction he has clearly earned (have you tried the Nectar Ales yet?) Some time after reopening the Humboldt Brewing Co., Mario established Nectar Ales. Today, this line of ales includes such tasty brews as the Red Nectar and Pale Nectar (featured this month), IPA Nectar, Winter Nectar and Summer Nectar. As a testament to the quality of the Nectar Ales family of beers, each Nectar Ales brew has been distinguished with a gold medal at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival—an uncommon feat for a line as diverse as the Nectar Ales. For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (805) 686-1557 or check out their web site at www.nectarales.com.