Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Pale Ale
April 29, 2011
Reviewing (sort of) Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Pale Ale is my sole contribution to this year’s English Beer Month here at The Brew Club! Thanks Bob the Brit for picking up the slack!
Old Brewery Pale Ale is a 5% ABV English Pale Ale that pours a nice, clear coppery color. A smart-looking brew indeed! This English beer creates a little bit of a head, but like other Sam Smith’s beers I’ve sampled, it left an impressive amount of lacing on my glass.
I picked up a 4-pack of this, and to be honest, I didn’t like the first bottle much at all. Next night, another bottle, still meh, and it wasn’t until the third night along as I was cooking out on the grill and I had the third bottle where I finally began to enjoy it.
I do think that conceptually, my head is used to ‘pale ale’ and my brain is expecting something like Stone Pale Ale or Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. West coast USA stuff with stronger grapefruity qualities. It dawned on me that the Old Brewery Pale Ale sort of reminded me of Bass Ale – just a bit better! (Its been awhile since I had an English Pale Ale!)
I thought it was interesting too that (I think) this is the same beer that is otherwise known as ‘Old Brewery Bitter‘. Maybe adjusted a bit for the 
American market? I know that we Americans probably wouldn’t buy a beer with the word ‘bitter’ in the name – so perhaps that some smart marketing from the Samuel Smith’s people.
Overall, I did like the beer, but for the price I think I’ll stick with the American pale ales. If I’m going to spend money on Sam Smith beers, it will be the Taddy Porter (yum!) or the Oatmeal Stout (yum, yum!) Looking back, if I was looking for another English Pale ale, I would probably go with Fuller’s London Pride instead.
Still a good beer, just not something I wouldn’t necessarily enjoy on a regular basis. Would you?
Rating: 
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Posted in Ales, English Beers
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April 29th, 2011 at 9:33 am
I felt the same way. It was good, but I was not overly impressed with it. I prefer the Oatmeal and Nut Brown. With that being said, it is Sam Smith’s, so how bad could it be really? I probably won’t go out of my way to pick it up, but if it was offered I would drink it.
By the way, great blog.
April 29th, 2011 at 11:11 am
@Scott – Thanks for the comment and compliment!
I agree, this relatively poor rating is in context that most of their other beers get 4 or 5 stars here! They just don’t make a bed beer. As a matter of fact, I tried the Imperial Stout last night for the first time and was blown away! What a great beer! That, along with the Taddy Porter and Oatmeal Stout are just amazing beers. This one, very good, but not amazing. The bar is set pretty high with these guys!
April 30th, 2011 at 8:12 pm
Hi guys, as you know I’ a big fan of Sammy Smiths beers, but what I would say is that this is what British pale ales ( or on draught – bitters) tend to taste like, and this is a great example.
The confusion tends to arise when you bring IPA’s into the mix, as they’re deliberately hopper than most bitters – you know the story.
English IPA’s begat American Pale Ales, against which a regular English Pale Ale would ( if you’ll excuse the pun) pale by comparison.
And don’t forget these are designed as session beers, three or four APA’s could become heavy going!
April 30th, 2011 at 8:50 pm
Thanks for the refresher, Bob! Again, not a bad beer, I think I just got a little spoiled over here! Now where’s my last bottle of Sammy Smith’s Imperial Stout? (so goood!)