Samuel Smiths Old Brewery Pale Ale

Brewed by Samuel Smith
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Tadcaster, England

A great session ale. Pours a delicious gold and has a wondeful aroma of earthy English hops. The flavor is smooth, just malty enough, with a prominent, yet soft and subtle, hop bitterness. Gentle hops would be the best way to describe this beer.

Got it in the gift pack. Pours nice with a great head. Very bland taste. Wasnt impressed.

Light to medium malt aroma, citrus hops, caramel and tobacco. Smooth, rather light flavor, with caramel, citrus, pine, tobacco. Great balance. A good refreshing beer.

Bottle from gift pack from Market Street in McKinney, TX. Pours a hazy deep amber with beige head. Aroma of malt, notes of honey and faint hops. Flavor is malty with very nice hop flavor and evenly balanced bitter. Mouthfeel is medium body with high carbonation. Overall, this is a well crafted ale, easy to drink, not over powering.

Pours a clear orange with a very thick, creamy head that has great retention and lacing. Aroma is bitter nut, slight hops, orange peel. Huge carbonation. Taste is a little watery and thin with some grassy hops and bitter pecan. Slightly acidic and sour on the palate. Dry, bitter finish.

I think I have now rated all the commonly available S. Smith beers. This is not one of their best, but it is still quite good. This is called a pale ale by the brewer, but Ratebeer calls it a bitter. It looks fine - a dull, medium brown pour with a plump head. Not one of the better S. Smith labels, tho. Sweet and tangy aroma with a slightly stale scent in there too. I love those Smtih malts, which come thru nicely in the flavor. Overall it is fairly light and not very sharp or bitter. The flavor leans toward mellow malts, which makes for a very drinkable brew that would go well with a meal.

12 oz bottle. Fairly malt dominated aroma, a good amount of fruity caramel and cookie malt, with earthy type hops. Pretty pour with a large cloud white head, not a lot of retention though, semi-translucent, light carbonation, amber color. Flavor is balanced toward the malty side at first with caramel, cherry fruit, pale malt, with a good woody and minor citrus bitter into the finish. A very pleasant ale, could easily see myself enjoying this one at an old English pub.

Pours dark copper with a thick foamy pale gold head, good retention. Aroma is a little faint but pecan, citrus hops, and nice light caramel malts are pretty apparent. Flavor is citrus hops, apples, caramel, candied pecans, straw, and bitter hops. Finish is bitter hops, a faint nutty tone, and a little pine pretty suddenly near the end. Body is thicker and slicker than the flavor would suggest, carbonation is at the right level though. All around a pretty good bitter.