Silverback Pale Ale was released in cans for the first time this past summer. The beer itself was produced in an effort to raise money for the Denver-based Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund. A full 50% of the profits from the sales of this beer went to the organization. 

From the Wynkoop Brewing site:

"Hand crafted in 20-barrel batches, Silverback Pale Ale has a comfortable 5.5% ABV and a balanced hop finale of approximately 40 International Bittering Units. It is made with American two-row malt, crystal malt, specialty malts and four US hops. The beer’s rich aroma comes from a trip through Wynkoop head brewer Andy Brown’s “Hopinator” hopback device, filled with 10 pounds of whole-leaf Centennial hops."

Here we go...

Pour - glowing orange in color with a nice fluffy, frothy white head on top. This has to be one of the brightest colored pale ales I've seen. So much yellow and bright orange standing out.

Aroma - a bit of malt, some hay or grass notes, definitely some lemon and orange zest and some relaxed hop aromas. Not a huge hop nose but it smells inviting nonetheless.

Taste - first sensation is sweetness on the tip of the tongue with a bit of spiciness and hoppiness on the back. Some bitter citrus flavors are present but in no way are they dominating. This is actually a very easy-drinking beer with enough hoppiness to hold your attention and balanced enough for even the biggest hop-ophobe. 

Overall - I quite enjoyed this brew. Nice flavors and mellow enough for a quiet beer on a Sunday evening. I could enjoy quite a few more of these to be honest. 

Would I buy more of it? - perhaps. I am a hop-lover at heart so I might be swayed at the last second by a bigger IPA but who knows. I'm an impulse shopper at heart.

Note - Wynkoop also sponsors a 5K run in which all participants wear gorilla costumes. All proceeds from this event also go to help mountain gorillas in Africa. Good on ya' Wynkoop!