Samuel Smiths Old Brewery Pale Ale

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

From a distinctive gold foil wrapped narrow neck clear 1pt. 2.7oz. Samuel Smith bottle with no freshness date, poured into a Samuel Smith shaped pint glass. Made a very good appearance, poured a clear red hued copper with a large foamy, frothy white head that as it reduced in size left a lot of ringed sticking. Had a sweet fruity/honey hopped aroma with whiffs of caramel maltiness and nutty yeastiness. Good carbonation and a dry, smooth medium bodied mouth feel, very good drinkability. Very tasty, a sour fruitiness with a mellow hop bitterness, a sweet biscuity maltiness and a grainy, dry finish with a lingering sour graininess in the palate.

Light aroma of malts and bready yeast. The flavor starts slightly sweet with notes of toffee and a bit of apple and then turns slightly bitter. Dry finish like a moderate IPA. Carbonation provides a prickly mouthfeel that cleans everything up. There was a slight tart flavor throughout in the background.

Poured from the bottle at The Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street in London, a ruby amber colour with a good creamy head, some carbonation. A hint of caramal in the aroma with some grassy undertones. Citrus in the flavour with some underlying butterness. Quite sharp and bitter - refreshing.

Bottle. Deep amber with a beige creamy head. Aroma, unfotunately, is more skunk than malt. Damn clear bottles. Good nutty caramel malt with some fruitiness and a dry finish. I know I would love this if it was 100% unskunked. I normally dig the flavor of English pales and bitters, and I like Sammy’s dark beers.

Pours with almost no head. Amber in color, nice drinkable beer. It has a spicy taste that mellows out after drinking a bit.

Bottle. Pours a clear bubbly amber with an average size, somewhat lasting, off-white head. First thing I’m thankful for when it comes to the aroma is even though it’s in a clear bottle, I got it from a giftpack so there is no skunkyness. Second thing I’m thankful for is how pleasant it smells: sweet malt, nice amount of fruit and light hops. The flavour doesn’t let me down: starts with a nice fruity taste along with some malt, nuts and ends with a nice mild bitter aftertaste. Nicely balanced and goes down smooth. Very good, I’d love to down several of these on tap in an English pub.

I was very disappointed in this pale ale. It poured great with a nice aroma and thick fluffy head, but was truly weak in taste to other pale ales. This is one of my favorite styles and breweries and will have to stick with the IPA.

This Pale ale poured a deep red colour with a light brown head. At first Spice and ripe fruit/ banana bread to the nose along with a sweet malt scent. First taste was smooth and rich with flavours of a slightly roasted flavour. Starts out a little sweet then turns into a slightly bitter finish. The palate is dry with the hops lingering.