Maclay's Traditional Pale Ale
Sleeman Breweries Ltd.

I bought a can at the beer store in Ontario 473ml at 5%. Clear and good carbonation
Poured a 1finger head into glass that quickly disappeared but left a lace as you drink it.
Taste is light malty apple with a mild bitterness and skunky hop flavor.
It feels like it's watered down.
Overall it's light and easy to drink.
Average .
Cheers

Light colour, decent yet not lasting head. Overall it’s an ok beer considering the price point.

Very good beer after a hot day in the garden. Excellent value.

Poured from the 473ml can into a tall pilsener glass. bubbly 1 inch head that diminished to a 1/4" but remained for longer than I expected. Medium carbonation and attractive lacing for a few minutes after the pour. Smell is faint and inoffensive - the usual hints of grain. Emphasis on the first word in "Pale Ale"; very little hop flavour up-front, although a bit of bitterness on the sides of the tongue and a mild hoppy bitter aftertaste at the back of the tongue. Tastes watered down, generally. As this is brewed by Sleeman's, it carries the same profile - not too varied, and drinkable. I'm sure this isn't a faithful imitation of the original Ale brewed in Scotland which won awards at the turn of the 20th century. But at $1.95 a can at the LCBO, it's certainly not without its merits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What utter crap masquerading behind a label with "traditional pale ale" and the association with Scotland. I won't even waste my time going through the indices in describing this concoction... Cheap swill. Period. Even Budweiser and Tsing Tao are a step above this shit!

Wanted to do a formal review of this one so revisiting. 473 ml can served cold into a pint glass. Purchased for $2 CDN.

Appearance - weak pale golden straw color. Decent finger of head was poured but doesn't last long. Some visible bubbles and the tiniest string of lacing left behind. Looks like a macro.

Smell- some grainy notes and a bit of a cooked vegetable wrapped around metal vibe as well. Smells like a macro.

Taste - very bland, I guess some coarse grainy flavor. Tastes like a macro, although probably a bit better than some.

Mouthfeel - it's wet and has a little less than average carbonation. Feels like a macro.

Overall - there's not too much good to say about this other than that it rates on par with macros, and as far as English pale ales go, it's pretty bad. I suppose there's a bit of bang for your buck here, but in this area, why not pay 10 cents more and get Spaten for an incredibly more satisfying brew?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a poor excuse for a pale ale

Having sampled many Maclays Alloa Ales from the Thistle brewery in Alloa before it closed I was eager to sample some of the Canadian brewed efforts brewed under licence by Sleemans. I contacted Maclays (Now Maclay Inns) in Alloa and they sent me four cans. I have to say they are not anything like the Maclays Alloa brewed ales and more like a typical Canadian style beer.

Quite gassy, extremely pale and with some after taste. Not bad as an everyday budget range beer and is certainly drinkable but cannot compare with the original Maclays ales from the Thistle Brewery in Alloa (Scotland).

Certainly not the same as a traditional Scottish style IPA.

 

Smallish white head slow recedes above a clear bright washed out golden colored beer.

Light sour grain malts aroma with a light soapiness to it.

Light grains come through in a lightly sour and lightly bitter tasting beer.

A light dry aftertaste without much taste to it with this light bodied beer.

Not to much going on with this beer, might find a home on a beerpong table if the price is right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

473ml Can

Appearance - Clear yellow colour with a small size fizzy white head. There is an average amount of carbonation showing. There is some faint lacing on the sides of the glass. The head lasted for only a few minutes before it was gone.

Smell - Bread/grains, corn syrup, malts, apples

Taste & Mouth - The beer has an average amount of carbonation and I can taste corn syrup, breads/grains and just a hint of malt. There is also an odd vegetable like taste to it. It ends with a grainy aftertaste with a bit of a spiciness.

Overall - There are much better options in the cheap beer category. This one had an odd taste to it that i couldn't put my finger on. I wouldn't buy this one again.

Tallboy can from the LCBO. Had it before, but not in a few years.

Pours a familiar golden-straw colour, with slightly more than a finger of pearl-white, fizzy head that is mostly gone within a few minutes. It's pale alright, but looks more like a lager to me. The aroma is grainy, with definite adjunct tones and some grassy hops.

Other than the fact that it is very mild, it has very little in common with legitimate EPAs. Grainy malts, with some corny/rice sweetness. Light apple juice fruitiness. Some weak, grassy hop notes toward the end. Clean finish without much aftertaste. Very watery and light-bodied, standard macro levels of carbonation but plenty drinkable.

When I was attending university (in Guelph, where Sleeman brands are popular - perhaps with logical reason because they always seem fresher there), I lived in a house with three friends and each of us would take turns buying 24s that we consumed collectively. Each of us had our favourite brands, and by the end of the semester, one side of the dining room was filled to the ceiling with cases of James Ready, Sleeman Honey Brown, Moosehead, and of course Maclays. We hauled the wall of bottles in and traded the deposit money for a couple more 24s of the same brands... and some Fosters, because we wanted to try something more exotic, I guess?

Maclays might technically be an ale, but they really shouldn't advertise it without putting an asterisk beside the word. For a buck-a-beer, it's reasonably good value though and if I were comparing this to other macros I'd have to give it at least a C+... but taken as an English-style pale ale, it's total garbage. If you are looking for comparables, think Lakeport.