MacLean's Pale Ale
F&M Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

Had this on cask at The Woolly in Guelph. Pours a deep orange with about a finger of white head and lots of lacing. Smells like citrus and earthy hops, some floral notes too and bread. Taste has a refreshing bitterness to it. Quite smooth mouthfeel and I had no problem finishing off the pint quickly. Great cask offering from an Ontario brewer as this reminds me of my trip to England last year.

Cask at The King Edward in Ilderton, Ontario.

A: burnt orange, amber hues, bubbly carbonation, eggshell white head, beautiful clarity.
S & T: flower petals, honey, fresh bread dough, biscuit, sweet caramel, table cream, toffee, fruity and grassy hop bitterness, light nuttiness towards the end. A tasty EPA.
M: creamy-smooth, medium, silky, some spice on the tongue, lasting mild dryness.
D: a satisfying session pale ale with various style-appropriate nuances. When consumed fresh, this is spot on for the genre. Worth a try.

One of my neighbors surprised us with a bottle of this stuff. Thought I'd better review it now, or I might not get the chance again later.

Appearance: Deep amber, almost brown body that produced a couple of fingers of head. Retains decently, but sadly does not lace. Seems to have some small particles of some kind in it, which are very small but are noticeable.

Smell: A Butterscotch smell makes it's presence known on this offering with a bit of a fruitier almost berry like notes. This beer really came out a lot as it warmed up.

Taste: Toffee malts with a fruity notes begin the beer, at which point the citrus and floral hops take over. Usually I expect more of a bitter presence from a pale ale, but this one is much milder. A simple brew for simple easy drinking.

Mouthfeel: I think this offering could use a bit more in the way of carbonation. That it leaves an almost candy like stickiness in your mouth. Nice transitioning though, and the fruity aftertaste is quite good too.

Drinkability: Goes down well enough and refreshing. Mild and light, but a little bit too sweet to really be an all night endeavor. Really, this strikes me as the kind of beer that you will want to have with your dinner.

Final Thoughts: Not really much to say on this one. Certainly worth a try, and I'd probably have it again if it was local but this is nothing but nice simple offering.

I'm reviewing a bottle brewed at MacLean's (or possibly Battleaxe) Brewery and not the version brewed at F&M.

Bottled at the brewery July 4. Bought from from a very nice, unassuming chap named Charles MacLean July 5th who was kind enough to give me a tour of his little brewery. Reviewed July 6th.

Pours a wonderful, clear amber colour with a nice bubbly head. The lacing and head retention are decent.

Smells like rich caramel and toffee, earthy and mildly citrusy...the aroma isn't bad but could use some work.

I think this might be just a tad under-attenuated in its sweetness, with tons of caramel and an earthy bitter finish and an overall nicely chalky or possibly woodsy taste taste to it. It's a lot sweeter and less minerally than it was on tap when brewed at F&M and I actually prefer the bottled version.

The mouthfeel is creamy and smooth.

This is a great drinker, not overly complex, but very satisfying, and perfect for when you want a full flavored beer to enjoy in the background when other things take more of your attention. I could drink a lot of these.

Glad to see this one is still around inspite of a dearth in recent ratings. Nice light amber body in a traditional pint with a frothy white head that laced well. Light malt and citrus nose could perhaps be a little more forward. Rich, malty flavour has a great deal of fruitiness and is joined by some good citrus hops in the mix. Some mineral qualities too. Smooth cask body with a good texture and depth. Very solid real ale offering from F&M.

On tap at the Winking Judge in Hamilton, Ontario. Pours with little head and a darker amber body. Aroma has bready malt all over it, and in the taste there is a slight hops bitterness. Finish is bready, semi sweet sugary malts, with a nice bite in the throat. Decent.

cask at Volo....Poured a nice amber with a medium, white creamy head....pleasant nose highlighted by hops, floral hints, garssy notes, some soft malt sweetness....taste was very well balanced with adequate hoppiness and malts, bit of a lemony tang off the back end....smooth, semi-creamy mouthfeel, served at the proper temperature, light bodied....never had the standard version but the cask version is great, could drink more than a few!

I had this hand-pumped at the King Edward in Ilderton.

A: Golden Bronze, fluffy white head, good retention, leaves plenty of lace.

S: Not a lot of nose, but a pleasant aroma of citrus, earth and a little bread & toffee.

T: Nice hop flavour, predominantly Goldings, citrus & a little earth. Balanced only slightly to the bitter side. A little pale malt breadyness with a hint of fruity esters.

M: Light to moderate body is pleasantly creamy, lightly carbonated (from the cask).

D: Awesome.

Poured an amber/orange, slightly hazy, one finger creamy head, nice lace. Smell was sweet malt, floral hops, strawberry candy. Taste was rich and malty, floral, fruity hop flavour and good bitterness in the finish. Mouth was smooth, good carbonation and very tasty, I really enjoyed this one.

Coppery amber beer with minimal head and no lace.

Gentle hop nose. Mild to taste, slight bitterness from hops. Better than a macro, simple and clean, but not memorable in any way. Decent basic ale, good companion to a meal. A little to subtle to stand on its own, but worth a try.

Bottle. Bought fresh at the brewery. Poured a slightly hazy light amber-orange with a 1 finger white cap that reduced to a good lace that stayed (much longer than any other F+M brew).

Medium carbonation. Best nose of all the F&M brews....aromas of toast, caramel malts and a thin whisp of sage or pine.

Starts bolder up front than other brews from this brewer, with a nice oily mouth feel and medium body where the toasty-caramel malt sits in almost perfect balance with the musty-sage hopping. Finish is clean with a mellow hop aftertaste.

The outstanding character of this brew for me was its uncanny. almost perfect balance. Strangely one of the best balanced ales I ever tasted...beginner's luck for F&M? A nice brew...much like a light scotch ale....I’ll buy more

Better cask-conditioned than in bottle as more natural. Golden colour. Thin head.Passable drinkable pale, mates do not like this or pales. Owner Keiron at Blue Meany does. Session ale. Hops on top of malt made it drinkable for me. Very slight bitter aftertaste that mates could not detect.

Amber beer was topped with a thin cream coloured head, as expected for a real ale. Floral hops peeked through a very mild aroma. The start was all caramel malt, which gave way to hop bitterness in the middle that lingered to the finish. Unfortunately, the body and flavour became thin at the finish -- almost watery.

I prefer this beer much more cask-conditioned than in the bottle, and there is definitely a big difference between the two. The serving temperature was excellent for the pint I had at the Woolwich Arms in Guelph, ON. Well done.