Friends, it's a happy time when a Sam Adams mix pack comes out. As you all know, darker, winter beers are this Captain's favorite, but summer/spring beers are wondrous too. The most recent mixed 12er I picked up has 2 of each of the following: Boston Lager, Sam Light, Blackberry Wit (finally!), Hefewiezen, Summer Ale and Pale Ale. I've chosen to review that Pale Ale today because I have about three minutes. And the review will be simple, as this beer is basically exactly what you'd expect from a good American Pale Ale. It's hop forward but without any sharpness. There is no specific note of pine, grapefruit, etc---now, at times this sort of "general bitterness" would be less, say, intriguing than I like out of a beer. But if you're eating a good meal, cooling down after exercise, starting off your morning, etc, sometimes you just want a good, balanced pale ale. Not a Pliny the Elder that you'll taste for hours. Not a Ruinator that will, well, ruin your taste buds for the rest of the day. You just want a drinkable beer. That's what this is. It's a pleasantly bitter, refreshing beer with subtle, bready malt and firm but not overbearing hops. Serve it cold when the weather's hot and then get me three to five more and a sandwich. Turkey club. Mustard, yeah. But no mayo. That stuff's wack, man.