Shoals Pale Ale
Smuttynose Brewing Company in Hampton, New Hampshire, United States 🇺🇸
Pale Ale - Classic English Regular|
Score
6.64
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Our first beer, Shoals Pale Ale debuted on July 16, 1994 on Portsmouth’s historic waterfront. Our interpretation of a classic English ale is copper-colored, medium-bodied and pleasantly hopped. Its flavor is delightfully complex yet balanced: tangy fruit at the start, with an assertive hop crispness and a long malty finish that one well-known beer writer has compared to the flavor of freshly-baked bread.
The Samuel Haley House, which is featured on the label still stands on Smuttynose Island, one of nine Isles of Shoals, just off the New Hampshire coast. The rich lore of the islands holds that Samuel Haley paid for this house with four bars of pirate silver he found exploring the island. And yes, there are hordes of seagulls on Smuttynose Island.
The Samuel Haley House, which is featured on the label still stands on Smuttynose Island, one of nine Isles of Shoals, just off the New Hampshire coast. The rich lore of the islands holds that Samuel Haley paid for this house with four bars of pirate silver he found exploring the island. And yes, there are hordes of seagulls on Smuttynose Island.
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6.3/10
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Appearance 7
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Refrigerated pint can poured into a glass. Aroma is caramel malt, medium body, lower carbonation, and little lacing. Taste is caramel malt.
Tried
from Can
on 18 Mar 2026
at 19:23
6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5
Draft. Pours dark. Not as hopped as indicated. Just kind of nondememo I am not happy to report.
Tried
from Draft
on 20 May 2025
at 00:48
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
16 oz. can from Total Wine. Pours a cloudy dark bronze color with a tall khaki head and great retention. Lots of streaming bubbles. Very good lacing. Surprisingly faint caramel and hops aroma. Initial caramel malt notes, followed by a stronger hops and bitter finish. Very close to an amber ale profile. Less bitter than I expected, yet still too bitter for my liking. Medium body. Medium carbonation. Moderate bitterness.
Tried
from Can
on 25 Apr 2025
at 21:49
6.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Bottle from Slijterij Groningen, a rather old bottle unfortunately. Chewy malty caramel aroma with toffee, biscuit, touch of fruits and hoppy notes which I imagine are more intense in a fresh sample. Flavour is medium sweet and mildly bitter. Body is medium. Age has turned this into a malt-bomb.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Feb 2025
at 04:50
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 9
Bottle 12oz: An copper coloured New Hampshirean Pale Ale with an quite sublime hoppy tangy manderine-like taste, this is an very good ale with an strange looking label.
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Dec 2024
at 11:40
6/10
Tried
on 13 Dec 2024
at 16:49
6/10
Tried
on 22 Feb 2019
at 11:56
4/10
Backlog
Tried
on 07 Sep 2018
at 09:36
6.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Aus der Flasche 2015-08 getrunken. Lecker! Genau der richtige Durstlöscher bei +35°C.
Tried
on 28 Jul 2018
at 18:21
7.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
From old tasting notes. Cloudy orange color. Thick bubbly tan head. Earthy toasted malt aroma hints at caramel apples. Zesty complex bittersweet malt flavor is reminiscent of brown sugar, figs and hazelnuts. Bitter hop finish makes this ale full bodied and complex.
Tried
on 19 Jul 2017
at 21:52