Arkansas Born

Wamp’s Wisdom
Diamond Bear Brewing Co.’s Pale Ale comes from Arkansas’ only production brewery.
It pours a ruddy amber with a nice ivory head. Aroma is of earthy hops and sweet malt. The flavor is hoppy at the start, then the malt hits you, followed by a sweet, but bitter finish that is very well balanced. At nearly 5 percent alcohol, it is smooth and almost sweet. There is practically no aftertaste.
Overall this is a nice well-balanced pale ale. Pair with spicy buffalo wings.

Rico’s Reaction
As a native of the state, I want to enjoy the home fruits of Arkansas. There’s a lot I like about my birthplace: the lush natural scenery, the University of Arkansas and the people.
Of course, there’s also the things I don’t like about Arkansas: the pockets of unbending racism, the sometimes lack of care in preserving our natural beauty and, ironically, the people.
Diamond Bear tends to fall in the latter category for me. So far, I’ve only enjoyed their Two-Term Presidential IPA, which is a phenomenal beer and well worth your time.
Unfortunately, that’s not the beer we’re reviewing. The Diamond Bear Pale Ale has an underwhelming mild hops aroma, and from my sample, I picked up hints of caramel and just a whiff of something sour.
The hops flavor starts off as light and underwhelming as its scent but grows as you get closer to the bottom of the glass.
There’s a little bit of caramel flavor and something that’s almost citrus but not quite, something more sour than pleasant. The finish was dry and harsh, and the beer turned sweeter the more I drank. That is not a good thing with my palate. As much as I’d like to, as much as I’d enjoy giving props to a native-born beer, I just can’t in this case.