Shenandoah Big Meadows Pale Ale

Brewed by Shenandoah Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Alexandria, Virginia USA

Watery and thin, has a smooth creamy texture, like many of their beers seem to, but with such a light flavor, it just doesnt work. A light tingey bitterness that could be highly unpleasant if it were stronger. Not a lot of reason to like this.

12oz bottle. Pours a clear, bright copper color; off-white head with good retention and fine-bubbled lacing. Aroma is pretty malt-forward for a pale ale: toasty / biscuity malts and sugar; some earthy and citrus bitterness creeping in, but not much. Quite watery mouthfeel: wet tea-like malts (a bit tannic), toasty / biscuity notes, with some earthy bitterness as well; not overly generous, but nothing foul about it either; just a very drinkable, vaguely watery pale ale. Solid maltiness shows past the hops. Medium finish showing bitter earthiness, toasty malts, and some dough (the final notes seems pretty standard for all of the Shenandoah beers I’ve tried).

Rerate 11/15/09: 12 ounce bottle from the brewery, Alexandria Ale label. Pours a hazy orange color with a moderate creamy head. Decent head retention and lacing. Aroma of citrus hops, malt syrup, apples. Taste is leafy, citrus hops with a toffee background. Thin-medium bodied. 5/3/5/3/11

Original Rating: 12 ounce bottle from Whole Foods in Charlottesville, VA, reviewed in late 2007. Pours a bronze color with nice sudsy head. Aroma of apples (can you tell its from Virginia?). The taste is a little on the bitter side, and not very complex. Virginia has much better to offer. 6/3/5/3/11

Bottle sampled at Newtown Brewfest with the Mad_Indian. Pours cloudy amber with a small off-white head. Aroma of floral hops, citrus, and caramel. the flavor is sweet, caramel, and mildly bitter floral hops. Finishes a little thin.

Sampled at the Newtown Brewfest 07 with Stegosaurus. Mile hop/malt aroma and taste. A little thin and needs work but its not horrible.

12oz bottle-pours a foamy retaining light tan head and copper color. Aroma is perfumy/spicy-hops, medium malt-some caramel. Taste is perfumy/spicy hops with some bitterness, earthy/wood. Medium malt-some caramel, grain/hay. OK carbonation. 3.1 Don’t know/didn’t know if this was bottle conditioned, but the second half was hazy copper and the taste was better, adjusting this to 3.4

Cloudy dark amber body with a small off-white head. Sweet floral hops aroma with some caramel and dark malt. Sweet malty flavor with caramel and light bitter ending.

Bottle. Nice hop and spice aroma. Flavor is good, even for an "average" pale ale beer, what it may lack that it makes up for over other beers is that it tasted very fresh, which only added to the finish of the beer. Then again, I love most pale ales.