Old 47 Pale Ale
Slab City Brewing Company

(Served in an American pint glass)

A- This beer has a bright orange clear body with a thick white head that last and last.

S- This beer has a nice fresh pale malt flavor with a hint of graham cracker, honey malt, and a faint dry malt note. There is a faint gingerbread note to the hop spice that gets stronger as the beer warms, but it is not overpowering.

T- The taste of dry crisp malt has a faint gingerbread hop flavor in the finish. The pale malt flavors have notes of biscuit that is subtle and nice. The hop flavor increases as the beer warms giving it more flavor and juiciness.

M- This beer has a medium mouthfeel with no alcohol heat.

D- This beer has good complex malt with a nice ginger flavor to the hops that keeps the hops mysterious and not overpowering. Very drinkable.

Hazy orange, loads of particulate, light butter cream head.

Nose isn’t particularly hoppy but it is chopped full of nice orange notes.

Taste is very orangey like a French or Belgian Christmas Ale.

Mouthfeel is light and fluffy.

I’m very confused. As a pale ale….No Way!

As something else…something more interesting, more Belgian…this one works.

I just don’t get much of any hops in this. The citrus is deeply present but it seems more sugary, almost candied. This is just a surprising brew.

Note…I got his one out of a mix pack so the sample may be off. I’ll try another sample soon and rereview.

12 ounce bottle. Pours out a dirty brown color with no head. The aroma is dough, sugar, and oranges. Flavor is more like a scotch ale than a pale ale. Burnt sugar, fruit, and a weird yeasty off flavor that really ruins this beer for me. Finish is bitter. Low carbonation. Medium mouthfeel. I couldn't get into this beer at all because of the strange yeast flavor. Another weak offering from Slab City.

Hazy orange-stained golden with a thick, lumpy buttercream dome and particulate matter in suspension.
Fragrant of oranges, dough, grass, caramel, and coriander. It's a strange, but not unpleasant aroma, even if it is far afield from all expectations.
But wait, it gets weirder.
Enters with a quick snap of graham cracker maltiness, then slides into bright clementine and bosc pear fruitiness. Yeast is phenolic, adding loads of black peppercorns and ginger. Malt assume a more caramelly persona with residual sugars, then the hops hit...or do they? It ends with a grassy, cilantro-mocking leafiness, and probably more yeast derived than anything.
Tasted blind, I'd have pegged it for a Belgian brew, like an Abbey Single, or maybe even a Strong Pale Ale (with a deviously hidden ABV). And not an American reditition either, but an authentic.
Even the uppity carbonation suggests Belgium.
This is 180 degrees from my preconceptions. I'm not sure what to think about it, but the glass drained with a quickness. So I'll go out on a limb and say I like it.
It's definitely tasty... hard to rate, though.

Pours out bright gold and sits golden-amber in the glass with a good sized, creamy off-white head. Fades slowly to faint skim, coats the glass with a thick layer of lace.

Smells oddly citric with some tangerine aromas blending with cider-ish grapes and apples. Tangy-sweet aroma with some caramel. Green maple and grape leaves coat the surface.

Tastes mildly sweet up front, predominate fruit presence. Apples, pears, canned peaches and mandarin orange. Hop bitterness is present with some nice leafy character. Finish boasts a medium bitterness with loads of fruit trailing off.

Quite refreshing in the mouth, somewhat light carbonation, but not lacking in exuberance. About a medium body with some syrupy characteristics.

Very drinkable, kind of sweet, but definately good. Easy going and enjoyably flavorful.

Re-rate-8-3-04

Really an odd smell to this...very floral...perfumey..with the caramel very obvious....low carbonation...has a bit of an odd off-taste to it...not at all like I expect a pale ale to taste like...very different...not my bag of tea..scores are being dropped...



8-2-02
I guess this is the old (mid)west pale ale...Unlike most (all) pale ales I've tried....it begins with the trademark Slab City nose of caramel....the flavor is caramel predominantly with an effort at some bitterness on the finish...more of a taunt pilsener like dry hop profile(which is minimal)..orange in color with a minimal lace....carbonation is low, but the beer seems medium bodied (on the light side of medium though)...I'd drink this....but I don't think it really fits the style...Tough to rate because I like it, but it is not very pale ale-ish...You don't get a lot of pale ale's with a strong caramel backbone..

Deep golden color. White frothy head with good staying power. Fresh hop garden smell. Not real strong though. And some caramel sweetness as well. Tast is nice and bitter. If anything, this pale ale leans towards the West Coast style, but it's not over the top that way. Caramel sweetness is subdued but yet forms a decent enough malt backbone. The hops dance a bit on top.....citrus tones, floral tones and pungent tones. Overall, a very nice pale ale.