Brewery: OHanlons, Whimple, Devon, England (website is under construction, so no link)

Brewery Description: Royal Oak is a pale ale of noble character in the grand tradition of British country brewing. Classically deep amber, rich in malt and fragrant with hop aroma, it’s a rounded, soft ale of beautifully balanced complexity and lasting finish.

Brew Style: ESB/English Pale Ale, 5.0% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English pint

The Ugly Truth: I’m really, really starting to get discouraged with pale beers. If it wasn’t for the fact I feel I need to drink them to give these reviews some variety, I wouldn’t touch them. So I wasn’t overly impressed by Royal Oak Pale Ale. When I poured it, it foamed out to this enormous head that filled 95% of the glass. I did a proper pour, so this was not as a result of error on my part. I actually had to sit and wait for 15 minutes before I could pour more beer into the glass because the head was so damn huge. Naturally doing it this way netted me a ton of sediment into the beer because I had to keep tilting the bottle up and down from pouring multiple times. The beer was brown in color, and the head was fairly light once it went down. To me it tasted somewhat foamy or maybe just overly carbonated, I’m not sure. There was a hint of bitterness to it but overall it was fairly smooth and I’m pretty sure I got the taste of coffee or caramel flavor in there somewhere. It left kind of a weird taste in my mouth after drinking it. Eventually, the taste smoothed out some more but still had some lingering bitterness in the aftertaste. I just really didn’t care for this beer that much, though some may like it. I found the mouth feel and taste to be different than I expect from a pale ale, but it didn’t do anything for me.

Verdict: The Tree King bestows a royal 5 out of 10 bottlecaps on its loyal servant.