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7 out of 10

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Saranac Pale Ale (#130)

July 23rd, 2008

Brewery: Matt Brewing Company, Utica, NY

Brewery Description: “A beer that would make the English jealous! This true English Pale Ale is rich and fruity, yet finishes crisp. You’ll love the copper amber color and medium body.”

Brew Style: English Pale Ale, 5.50% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English pint

The Ugly Truth: Alright, four beers down and two more to go for Saranac.  Thank god.  I don’t mind Saranac, but I’m looking forward to getting to the end of this six pack and buying something different.

Saranac Pale Ale poured a deep copper in color, with some light carbonation rising from the bottom.  Finished with an off white foamy head that had decent retention to it but ended up being low.  Which is all fine, right about where a English pale ale should be.

Aroma-wise, really good.  Moderately strong hops aroma, with a little bit of caramel tone to it from some balancing malt.  It had a really balanced mix of the two, with the light malt caramel balancing the hops perfectly.

However, I’m not sure where those things went when it came to the taste.  They completely disappeared on me.  Don’t get me wrong, the taste is pretty good but it didn’t live up to the aroma.  Low hops flavor that didn’t reflect what I found in the aroma, same thing with the malt.  The taste was smooth, though not even remotely bitter.  The hops flavor that was present had a slight citrus tinge to it that worked pretty well.  The low carbonation level lead to a light mouthfeel and body.  The taste was straightforward, with no secondary flavors creeping in to ruin it.  Finish was clean with no strong aftertaste to it.

Overall, its not a bad English pale ale.  It could definitely be stronger in the hops flavor and the malt to make it a better beer.  I personally found it kind of weak for a pale ale even though I liked the taste.  It was an easy drinking beer with nothing crazy to it so it gets a bonus point for simplicity and ease of drinking.

The Verdict: I’m giving it a 7 out of 10 bottlecaps.  Not a bad beer, but not an awesome one either.

» The Rest of the Beer Roster

July 13th, 2008 - Saranac Black and Tan (#129)
July 1st, 2008 - Saranac Black Forest (#128)
June 25th, 2008 - Saranac Brown Ale (#127)
May 14th, 2008 - Xingu Black Beer (#125)
May 6th, 2008 - Chimay White (#124)
April 19th, 2008 - Anchor Steam Beer (#123)
March 30th, 2008 - DeuS (Burt Des Flanders) (#121)
March 10th, 2008 - Hennepin (#117)
February 15th, 2008 - Stone Smoked Porter (#115)
February 1st, 2008 - Weyerbacher Merry Monks’ (#113)
January 25th, 2008 - Ommegang Rare Vos (#112)
January 18th, 2008 - Duck Rabbit Baltic Porter (#111)
January 14th, 2008 - Current Beer Roster Stats
January 6th, 2008 - Ommegang Witte (#109)
December 28th, 2007 - The Beer Roster Evolves
December 20th, 2007 - Ringwood Old Thumper (#108)
December 10th, 2007 - Lump of Coal (#107)
December 5th, 2007 - Sam Adams Light (#106)
November 30th, 2007 - Holy Sh!t
November 7th, 2007 - Saranac Octoberfest (#104)
November 5th, 2007 - Buzzards Bay Black Lager (#103)
October 18th, 2007 - Saranac Pumpkin Ale (#102)
October 8th, 2007 - Buzzards Bay Pilsner (#101)
October 1st, 2007 - Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout (#100)
September 26th, 2007 - Lakefront Kilsch Pilsner (#99)
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June 14th, 2007 - Harbin Premium Lager (#85)
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