Samuel Smiths Old Brewery Pale Ale

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

Good pale ale. Nice copper beer. Aromas of caramel, malt and fruity hop. Tastes bitterish, fruity, caramelish and slightly resinous. Pleasant.

Defintiely one of the more beautiful looking pal ales I’ve seen. A ruddy, almost red pour, with a slightly quick diminishing cream head. Some nice lacing on the glass. A slight bitterness on the tongue, but very smooth and creamy on the tongue. Light hop flavoring, a bit heaver on the malt. Not as dry as folks are describing, but I’m sure on a fresh tap it’d stand up. Light sugars with the cream. Very pleasant, and enjoyable beer. A full mouthfull however tastes a bit fishy (as in swimming fish) Sam Smiths keeps a consistent level of high quality in my book. (Bottle Pour 6/17/2006)

Malt,caramel and fruit (peach?) aromas. Dry with notes of biscuits and nectar, medium body and a short brisk finish.A little fizzy on the tongue. I’ve learned since posting on this site that what the English label pale ales are in fact ESB’s and not what Americans call pale ales so I’m no longer surprised when I order an English "pale ale".

Pours amber copper w/ full creamy froth. Aromas of a classic pale w/ rustic malt and mellow, wet, hops and honey. Full nectar w/ mellow residuals. Full flavored and dry, malty, crisp, rustic w/ aged hops and biscuits. The finish has a defined bittering leaving a rustic maltiness w/ a hint of fruit. Overall: well balanced, very tasty, I like it alot. Highly recommended.

Poured an orange color with a very nice generous initial head that laced fairly well. The aroma was initially skunk, and I rolled my eyes. It subsided to a somewhat grassy / saaz hops aroma. After running upstairs and taking care of a kid issues, I was greeted with no skunk, light caramel... the skunk had dissipated, imagine that! Finally, I tasted it and was impressed that it wasn’t too bad, on par for the style, but not a style that I love. The flavor was caramel with a nice bittering hop balance, but none of the aromatic US hops to impress the American hop heads. Balanced, nonetheless, nice bitter finish. Mouthfeel was slightly acidic and moderate to light. Not something I’d really return to, but not bad within the style.

A nice pour. A little more red than the Nut Brown Ale. Has a nice off-white head. Somewhat malty with a little hop character. One of the better beers I have tried from England.

jbrus let me taste some of his bottle. Maltaroma. Malty flavor with hops, cookies and even the slightest touch of smoke. Bitter cookie aftertaste. Quite nice.

Bottled. Great Bitter with all the mandatory flavors and more. So why doesn’t get more high rating? I guess it’s the clear bottle that does it. If not kept well this beer might go skunky to soon. Mine was in perfect condition. Aroma is smoked, whiskey malts and even hints of salami (without garlic). Brown/orange color beige creamy head with beautiful lace. Light sweet, smoked, bitter, herbal, very malty and nice balance and complexity. Medium body, dry hoppy finish.