Country Pale Ale
Wachusett Brewing Company

Country Pale AleCountry Pale Ale
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From:
Wachusett Brewing Company
 
Massachusetts, United States
Style:
English Pale Ale
Ranked #216
ABV:
5.1%
Score:
78
Ranked #37,746
Avg:
3.4 | pDev: 14.71%
Ratings:
258 | reviews: 108
Status:
Active
Rated:
Apr 06, 2025
Added:
Dec 31, 2001
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  31
Our first brew back in the early 90’s, the original pale ale with perfectly balanced hops & malts creating super drinkability.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by KMcGrath:
Photo of KMcGrath
Rated by KMcGrath from Massachusetts

3.43/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Dec 04, 2018
More User Ratings:
Photo of Darkmagus82
Reviewed by Darkmagus82 from Texas

3.25/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Poured from a bottle into a pint glass
Appearance – The beer pours a dark golden amber color with a tiny head of white fizzy foam. The head fades super-fast leaving a tiny bit of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is heavy of a malty and bready smell mixed with notes of herbal and earthy hop. Along with these aromas comes notes of orange citrus and grapefruit.
Taste- the taste begins with a malty and bready flavor mixed with a touch of caramel and a light orange citrus. There is a dank herbal and earthy hop upfront, both of which get stronger as the taste advances. Toward the end there is a bit of an increase in malt and some more earth, leaving one with a slightly dank and malty taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel -the body is slightly thicker and chewier for a 5.1 % abv brew with a lower carbonation level. OK for the style, but may have liked it attenuated a bit more.
Overall – Ah. Ok brew but nothing to exciting.
Apr 06, 2025
 
Rated: 4.55 by wcdevin

Jan 16, 2025
Photo of GratefulBeerGuy
Reviewed by GratefulBeerGuy from New Hampshire

3.42/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Country Pale Ale

Wachusett Brewing Company

Pale Ale English
Notes:

A really nice old School ale. Easy drinking, yet full of medium malts and old world hops. Balance is the key here. A tangy, sweet amber malty backbone gives way to a green, earthy, herbal hop presence that lingers. A Pale Ale your grandfather would like.

3.40
Feb 05, 2023
 
Rated: 3 by LAM01833 from Massachusetts

Aug 01, 2022
 
Rated: 3 by Sinister from New York

Mar 27, 2022
Photo of milkshakebeersucks
Reviewed by milkshakebeersucks from Maryland

3.42/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Golden amber appearance with a large, off white head. Muted, fruity aroma, some residual sweetness, little in the way of hops. Taste was on the bland side; sweet malts, some soft fruit, mildly hopped aftertaste. Smooth, light bodied, modestly carbonated mouthfeel with a short lived finish.
Jan 04, 2022
 
Rated: 3.59 by jlmontague from Connecticut

Aug 08, 2021
 
Rated: 3.31 by QuentinDishaw from Massachusetts

Jul 15, 2021
 
Rated: 3.55 by Dimpi from Massachusetts

Feb 15, 2021
 
Rated: 1.65 by mdzhang from Massachusetts

Feb 19, 2019
 
Rated: 3.3 by lemonox from Massachusetts

May 22, 2018
 
Rated: 3.7 by Canalfisher22 from Massachusetts

May 12, 2018
 
Rated: 2.88 by wfreitag from Massachusetts

Dec 11, 2017
 
Rated: 3.48 by IBUBrew from Vermont

Oct 29, 2017
 
Rated: 1 by OzmanBey from Massachusetts

Oct 22, 2017
 
Rated: 3.5 by chriswjr from Massachusetts

Sep 25, 2017
Photo of SABERG
Reviewed by SABERG from Massachusetts

3.52/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Poured from a fresh crowler into the test glass.
A - Straw colored, nice clarity. frothy white cap and fine lacing.
S - Biscuit, sweet malts, a bit of caramel.
T - Follows the nose.
M - Here the offering is solid, nice carbonation, and finish.
O - Modeled after an English Pale Ale, that is for certain, a bit more focus would make this a real winner.
May 24, 2017
Photo of ordybill
Reviewed by ordybill from Georgia

4.25/5  rDev +25%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Poured from a 12 OZ bottle into a pint glass. The appearance is a golden amber with a small white head. The aroma is heavy on malt with some caramel. The taste is just like the nose. A really good beer.
Jan 10, 2017
Photo of Damian
Reviewed by Damian from Massachusetts

2.1/5  rDev -38.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 1 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.25
Drank from a 12 fl. oz. bottle
09/11/2016
Served in a pint glass

Medium amber appearance. Just a touch hazy. The liquid was topped by a creamy, inch tall, ecru colored crown that fell rather quickly. No lacing whatsoever.

Weird stuff happening in the aroma. This described "English style pale ale" was a total diacetyl bomb. Sweet butter notes came through big time. There was a vague, rather artificial fruity quality as well. Malt extract also came to mind. I literally could not pick up even a hint of hops. This definitely brought me back to my days of trying many a bad home brew.

The taste was perhaps more appropriate for the style but also rather unremarkable. A touch of malts appeared up front before the hops kicked in. The hops were thin and bitter and and lacked much flavor of any type. Touch of citrus. Orange perhaps. Lots of generic, earthy hop bitterness. There was more earthy hop flavor and bitterness on the finish. As the beer warmed, the orange notes became more apparent and the bitterness subsided a bit.

On the palate, the beer was very light and fluffy. The liquid contained a super intense, large bubbled effervescence that seemed aggressive and rather excessive.

Macros and non-alcoholic beers aside, this is the worst beer I have tried in a very long time. The info on the label states that this was the first beer the brewers ever made, which is not surprising. Some things, however, are better left in the past.
Jul 18, 2016