MacLean’s Pale Ale

Brewed by MacLean’s Ales
Style: English Pale Ale
West Grey, Canada

Draft at Volo, in the good company of hogtownharry. Arrived a hazed amber coor with a tiny head and spots of lace. Seet, fruity malts in the english style, even a bit of smokiness and noticible dusty hops. Dry, dusty flavor and a bit watery, odd compared to the rather bold aroma, with little sweetness except just a touch that emerges midway and leading into an astrigent herbal hop finish. Lifth to medium body and little to no carbonation. Not really my style and just under average overall.

Aroma:hopy nose,bread.... Appearance:cooper-orange,good white head... Flavor:good malt flavor,light bitterness...

Cask @ Volo. Tastes like a subtle cider! I could not believe it... for a decent ciderness it gets a good rating. Floral with some mild hops, a LOT of malt though. Good dark gold colour as well.

cask. Volo. golden body, frothy white head looks nice and lasts for a long while. Floral aroma with mild hops. Creamy body. Nice bitterness throughout with a lingering leafy hop finish. some sweet malt in the middle. Pretty decent PA but not particularly interesting.

Draught (cask) At Volo. Poured quite creamy and cloudy (reminded me of Boddington’s Pub Ale), settled quite quickly to a fine off-white head. Color is quite coppery, but pale, slightly cloudy. Aroma very bread-doughy, taste is mildly bitter, the maltiness is there for sure, but in background. Medium to light bodied. Tends to a grapefruit bitterness on the palate, builds slowly. Well-suited to the cask. Virtually no carbonation, of course - great patio beer.

Rerate:
On cask at the Victory Cafe. Had this today and it’s way better then I describe below, it’s a refreshing and tasty Pale Ale, especially on Cask, and deserving of a better score.
Original score: 5.3.5.2.11: 2.6
On cask at Bar Volo. Mild aroma of hops and caramel. Amber colour with no head. Flavour is too moderate, not enough hops and malt. Decent but fairly bland.

Sampled at C’est What’s Spring 2005 Festival of Small Breweries. Light copper-orange colour. Aroma is earthy and subdued. Flavour starts fruity and a little buttery, and finishes with a very well balanced hop character. The flavours felt a little stale, but generally, I liked this.

An interesting-looking pale ale, featuring red and orange highlights. Earthy nose and a nice, full, chalky mouthfeel. Earthy flavour profile as well. Excellent bitter hold, with an exceptionally long, savoury finish. A very nice pale ale.