Samuel Smith Pale Ale: Defining the style
Written: Dec 31 '00 (Updated Jun 23 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great mix of hop and malt, smoothness
Cons: I haven't paid for one for a while but most complain about the price
The Bottom Line: Might be passed by for its price but a must try and not too difficult a beer for novices. Not typical of your hoppy American pale ales.
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| andaryl's Full Review: Samuel Smith Pale Ale (England) 2406b |
Pale Ale, Bitter and Mild are the traditional brews of my homeland, and are the styles you’ll find in every English pub. However, since moving to the USA, they are styles that I have almost forgotten. With the craft brew revolution in the USA, there is a much wider variety of traditional English ales, many of which are much more available here than in the land where they were invented and in many cases still brewed. Typical examples of English styles which are easier to get in the USA are porters, stouts (Irish), IPA’s and to a lesser extent Brown Ales. In many cases English breweries are brewing these various styles predominantly due to demand in the export market, and most USA microbreweries offer several English styles.
While Pale or Bitter were my drinks of choice in England, since moving to the States I have found much greater adventure in the diversity of choice, and almost forgotten about my former favorites. Indeed I had sang the praises of so many English ales, only to find that 2 years more experienced they are not as great as I always thought they were.
Samuel Smith is one of the English breweries which revived some of its older styles to satisfy the American drinker. As I started out by saying though, pale ale is a classic English style and one, which has always been widely available. While having drunk many of these, often in large quantities, Sam’s Pale Ale is something I had never tried until last night.
Served in their traditional clear Victorian-pint bottle you get an immediate idea of what the beer is about. The word “pale” refers to the early days of these beers when most ales were muddy brown in color, so this probably looked as pale as a Budweiser in comparison. It’s actually a deep amber, verging on red in color and fairly clear in body.
The beer pours very nicely, producing a good foamy white head. In the aroma you get some of the bitterness from the hops as well as a hint of the sweet smoothness, as characterized by Samuel Smith’s slate fermentation. The palate is rather light, and smooth in body with an initial buttery malt flavor. There’s a little sourness in the finish and a satisfying bitterness.
While I feel the heavier stouts and porters of Samuel Smith’s are a little more interesting, the pale ale is a better thirst-quencher and much easier drinking. It also works better than any of the others alongside food. I had mine with a toasted turkey and cheese sandwich, but I could just imagine it going perfectly with a Sunday Roast Beef. As with most of my pale ale experiences, this is a good beer for a social get together. Although recommended at 55F, I would imagine this working great slightly colder on a hot summer’s day.
I have nothing against Sierra Nevada, which is a great beer, but it is much heavier in hops than a traditional pale ale. Samuel Smith’s is much more balanced between the malt and hop, as well as the trademark smoothness which all combine to make this another World Championship Gold Medal winner.
Recommended:
Yes
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andaryl
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