Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale

Brewed by Smuttynose Brewing Company
Style: English Pale Ale
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

amber/copper, with a medium to thick long lasting sticky off white head. Aroma is sweet malts, some light fruit and hops, taste is malty, bitter up front, sweet in the middle with a light dry and hoppy bitter finish. very good.

Ah, not my cup of tea. Cracked this one open thinking it was another decent American Pale Ale. The pour was pretty colored for a pale ale, rich copper, a very nice initial head that had excellent retention. The lacing was also very solid, looked very much like an altbier, a very pretty beer. The aroma was all bitter, not a lot going on. The first two sips were a little pine-like with some citrus rind type flavors. However, the after taste was strong bitter hops without much flavor, sending a zingy-ness across the tongue. After about three sips, I was convinced this was more English hopped than American and realized it was indeed an English PA. However, unlike the usual English PA, this thing seemed as hopped as much as the usual American PA in terms of hop strength. Malt underneath was hardly detectable, slight caramel and that’s about it. Highly imbalanced, not enough hop flavors or other flavor complexity. Mouthfeel was moderate to light-moderate with average carbonation. Somewhat dry finish.

Appearance: lightly hazed, amber/copper color, creamy, stable head. Lookin’ good... Aroma: malty, sharply fruity, sweet, hops get louder over time, but play it cool at the front. Nice enough. Taste: Full bodied, bold entry on the palate, flush with fruity flavor. Bright, brash taste, quickly drying on the tongue. This feels like a meatier ESB, and doesn’t taste like any pale ale, American, British, or otherwise...more of an amber ale, actually, especially with the lopsided malt-to-hop quotient. Drinks down smooth, with plenty of flavor all the way through. Another meeting with a Smuttynose ends far from disappointment.

orange body with a tan head. huge head. this beer is way too carbonated. conservative pouring produced such a head i had to let it settle for a good five to ten minutes to pour the rest. aroma nice caramel malt balancing out floral (roses) slightly soapy hops. flavor sweet toasty malt and bitter floral hops. nicely balanced. medium body. finish long and bitter. carbonation out of control. way way too fizzy. very solid pale ale that i enjoyed quite a bit except for the out of control carbonation. i need to try this one again. i think i might have had a bad bottle.

Here we go. Poured in a Smithwicks glass. Dark brown color, off white head. Aroma is dark fruit and sweetness. Fruit cake ish ’ Flavor is mostly boring, not enough hops, sweet, doesnt remind me of a pale ale at all....

Bottle. Clear dark amber body under a thin wreath of white foam. Roasty, caramelized raisin with a touch of melon in the aroma. Kind of dull. The flavor brings out some brighter lime citrus and dandelion stem hops but otherwise sticks to the same toasty malt base. Decent stuff.

Pours a light amber color. Aromas of fruit, hops, and light caramel malt sweetness. Flavor is hoppy but a well balanced mixture of hops and malts, with a nice citrus taste.

Pours to a very transparent glowing copper orange body with lots of tiny bubbles rising up through the body. The beer has a rocky white head. The aroma is strange oranges, English floral hops, and cookie dough. The flavor is cookie dough, floral hops, minerally. The palate is lightly bitter, something doesn’t sit right. Not a fan.