Belching Beaver wanted to develop a core Pale Ale to give its customers a lower alcohol beer, but still loaded with flavor, and round out their portfolio heavily focused on IPAs and stouts. Pomalo Pale Ale comes in at 5.6% abv and will be the company’s first large scale pale ale brewed at their production facility. It will be available throughout the company’s distribution channels starting Friday, March 4 via 16-ounce can six-packs.
Belching Beaver started from the ground up on this Pale Ale, and multiple test batches were brewed to narrow down the exact recipe they used for Pomalo.
“It’s hard to obtain a good malt backbone in lower ABV beers without making it overly malty,” said Troy Smith Brewmaster at Belching Beaver. “It’s a balancing act, and to help with mouthfeel, head retention and overall malt complexity we used classic 2-row, aromatic malt, biscuit malt and dextro pils.”
“We hopped this beer with Simcoe, Amarillo, Mosaic and El Dorado hops to give it notes of resin, pine, some tropical notes and hints of citrus, said Andy Coppock District Sales Manager at Belching Beaver. “All of these hops are really well balanced on top of that beautiful malt bill.” “When you drink this beer, you’ll know it’s a pale ale.”
Now, you’re probably wondering where the name came from. When the team was discussing a name for this beer, they wanted to use something that complimented their No Worries brand. The breweries tagline is “Dam Good Times,” and they pride themselves on keeping the fun alive, and after a long day, encourage you to find the time to, kick back and enjoy a cold beer.
During the time they were developing this brand, CEO Tom Vogel and Brewmaster Troy Smith took a vacation to Croatia to decompress and relax with their families. While they were there, they were visiting a local winery (Croatia makes amazing wines) and they were introduced to the word “Pomalo” by a local. It became the theme of their trip. Pomalo means, “take it easy,” “no stress,” “no worries,” which is exactly what you’re supposed to do on vacation.
“We were really struggling to find the perfect name for this beer, nothing was jumping out at us or sticking, said Haley Smith Marketing Manager at Belching Beaver. “When we heard this word in Croatia it all fell into place.” “We love to travel and now we are able to share that experience with our customers and hopefully encourage them to do the same.” “The pandemic stripped so many things from us, travel being a big one for us, and it’s time to celebrate it again.” “We know we will have to do some education when releasing this beer so our customers know what it means, but we’re willing to take on that challenge.” “Hopefully this will be one of many travel-inspired beers, shining just a small light that we can on other amazing places in this world.
Pomalo Pale Ale is a very approachable beer, and if that doesn’t draw you in, hopefully the art showcasing a large smiley face will.
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