Georgetown Brewing's Pearl Jam: The Home Shows Pale Ale

Recently, my wife and I traveled to Boston for two Pearl Jam concerts and a chance to try some of the local beer. We had an absolute blast drinking Treehouse, Trillium, Springdale & Jack’s Abby to name a few. 

Visiting the Tree House Brewery was unlike anything I had ever experienced. The line for cans and the ability to buy draft tickets was super long but somehow operated very efficiently. The line to cash in those draft tickets was much longer but again operated surprisingly efficiently. I have waited in line for beer in the past but had never waited that long at a brewery during a mid afternoon visit. The beer, as expected, was well worth it. So much so that I am very much looking forward to visiting there again.

The Tree House beer we bought that was what we drank for most of our visit. The days ranged from a humid 85 degrees to a humid 97 degrees and that gave us the motivation to stay in the hotel room and drink amazing beer before heading to the concerts. While I could blog about the Tree House beers I had, I think it would be fairly pointless. If you are reading this, then most likely you know their reputation or have had their beer. Every beer I have had from them was delicious. One however I will go out of my way to mention is Old Man ESB. It is an excellent example of an underrated style I want to see more of. It was also a fantastic beer to enjoy before a Pearl Jam concert. 

These particular Pearl Jam concerts were part of a baseball stadium tour called The Home & Away shows. The tour opened in Seattle(The Home Show) and continued through Montana, Chicago & Boston(The Away Shows). Each show was epic in its own right but The Home Shows got the royalty treatment including a Pearl Jam themed whiskey, wine and a Pale Ale brewed by Georgetown Brewing. I was hoping there would be a different specialty beer brewed in each of the markets, especially Boston, but that was sadly not the case. I was bummed out by the fact that another Pearl Jam beer existed and I might not get a chance to try it. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, the Dogfish Head Pearl Jam Twenty Beer was awful. I really hoped the latest beer was significantly better. Fortunately, two days after we returned from Boston, a 6-pack of Pearl Jam: The Home Shows Pale Ale showed up on my doorstep and after this extremely long introduction I can finally talk about it.

The aroma of Home Shows Pale Ale is a blast of resinous pine with some orange peel, grapefruit, pineapple, mango with a touch of malt sweetness. After the first taste, the bad memories of the Pearl Jam Twenty beer immediately faded away. Now, I am not saying this is a mind-blowing beer but it is a damn good beer. It is perfect for say, tailgating an epic 3 hour concert. It is light, super easy to drink with grapefruit, pineapple, mango, a light herbalness, some malt sweetness and a really nice amount of pine before a clean finish. The only thing holding me back from fully gushing over this beer is the fact that the hops may have faded a bit and it is a touch watery. Nevertheless, this is a damn good beer and I am ecstatic to be drinking it. 

The Home Shows Pale Ale left me hoping for more of these one-off beers for Pearl Jam shows. The shows in Boston were amazing! While I had no issue sipping a Sam ‘76 and watching the concert, I would have loved to have been sipping this instead. If you come across this beer, it is well work a purchase. Also, if you have yet to see Pearl Jam live, it is well worth going out of your way to do. 

Overall rating: 4/5

Until next time Pearl Jam!

Rating Scale:
1. Repugnant and undrinkable
2. Acceptable but forgettable
3. Good, worth a purchase
4. Excellent, a step above the norm
5. Truly Exceptional. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

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Thank you Uncle Jeff! Thanks for reading. Sláinte!