Tuesday, October 27, 2009

119. Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale

“This one could be kinda old...”

Another from the Smuttynose Brewing Company in Portsmouth, NH. Our last two from them were their Finestkind IPA and Farmhouse Ale.

Shoals Pale Ale is a dull cloudy brown with a minimal white head. The nose carries with it fruity esters and some light hops; there is not much malt character to it, although the breadiness of the nose increases with warmth. Shoals begins with light fruit esters and some dry malt flavors, moves into medium levels of bitterness and some soft bready malt, and ends with hop bitterness and fruity flavors carried by either the yeast or the hops. There is also some caramel malt flavor that emerges in the front with warmth. The body is light with a soft mouthfeel and a low level of carbonation; there is also a hint of dryness on the palate. Shoals Pale Ale comes across as more of an English style Pale Ale than an American one with the fruit esters and the low levels of aroma and flavor hops (low carbonation as well). While this could be in part due to age (see photo) it could also just be from the fact that it is an English style Pale Ale.

From the Smuttynose website: “Our interpretation of a classic English beer style is copper-colored, medium-bodied and highly hopped. Its flavor is delightfully complex: tangy fruit at the start, with an assertive hop crispness and a long malty palate that one well-known beer writer has compared to the flavor of freshly-baked bread.”

ABV: 5.5%
IBU: 30
OG: 1.050
TG: 1.012
Malts: Pale Brewers, Crystal 60°L, Carastan, Wheat
Hops: Cascade & Chinook

(10/27/2009)

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