Samuel Smiths Old Brewery Pale Ale

$3.99 at Beverage Resort in Kennesaw, GA. Appearance: Pours a reddish-copper body with a foamy, yellow head. Smell: Light aroma of floral, soapy hops with a bit of earthy butterscotch. Taste: A fairly light, almost vacant butterscotch maltiness with some mild, English hops showing in the drying finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-thin body. Moderate carbonation. Drinkability: A humdrum offering from Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery that really pales in comparison to their Imperial Stout, Oatmeal Stout, Taddy Porter, and Nut Brown Ale. Ah well.

old rating: 6/4/8/4/16 - 3.8 ( 6/25/2007) pours is a clear amber-orange with a tint of red, a small off-white head that dissipates quickly, and a little lacing. smell of malt, grain, a touch of caramel, some citrus, and some roasted nuts. taste is creamy up front, well balanced hops and malts, grain, some caramel, and hops in the back, end is dry and a tad bitter.

Bottle. Red copper pour with a small but foamy head. Pleasant hoppy aroma with the touch of butterscotch I expected. Flavor’s good too, with just enough hops to balance the maltiness as well as the distinctive diacetyl flavor. Smooth drinking. One of the better English Pales I’ve tried.

12 oz. bottle. Nutty aroma contains pitted fruit (cherry, plum), apple, pear, chocolate, carmel, and sweet tobacco scents. Smells more like a brown ale than a pale ale (or, for that matter, ESB), but the aroma is superior to that from the typical representative of any of those styles. Pours a clear bronze/tan/amber with a reddish glow and a large amount of appetizing, thick, even, cream-colored head. Produces impressive lacing. The flavor features a sweetly malty start with a lemony-hoppy finish. Chocolate, carmel, and cream flavors. The tastes are subtle but quite good. This beer is not as hoppy as its pale ale designation or even ESB categorization would tend to suggest. Softly bitter aftertaste. Light to medium body. Relatively lively in the palate. Easy to drink. Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Pale Ale is a wonderfully subtle brew that is perfectly English in character. I can see why it doesn’t rate well here at ratebeer.com: It does’t overwhelm the drinker with aggressive flavors. It would, however, stand up excellently to multiple tastings, it serves its purpose quite well, and it demands respect. This is another superb, underappreciated beer from one of the best breweries in the world.

Nice dark amber look with a fine lidgt orange/brown head. Aroma is that of fresh straw and caramel malts, though not that strong. Flavor is welbalanced with a appropiate malty sweetness and a nice bitter touch that leaves a dry and long lasting impression.

Dark, muddy amber in color. Aromas are mostly malty. Some fruitiness and earthy undertones with the slightest hint of hops. Medium bodied with a rather unpleasent sour bitterness to it. Not well balanced, but a decent drink.

bottle from the sprit haus. First sip is bitter and refreshing... this is exactly why I picked this one up. The flavor is grass, bitter hops, and pecans. Sam Smith is the first brewery that I fell in love with after I turned 21. I tried each one of them before I started my ratebeer adventure. I believe that they are each a little underrated.

550 ml pours amber copper with large, lasting head. Aroma is graham crackers and marshmallows, with some grass and metal hops. Flavor is nice upfront molasses-malt with one of the slower segues to a slight grassy hop-bitter finish. Occasional overarching sour-tart flavors are nice, maybe this is the yeast? Palate is soft and medium-bodied. Excellent beer.